EY Director for Inclusiveness Recruiting Ken Bouyer Visits VSB, Shares Career Advice with Students

VILLANOVA, Pa., September 18, 2017 - Last week, VSB was honored to host EY Director for Inclusiveness Recruiting Ken Bouyer for a special visit as part of the VSB’s and EY’s continued commitment to inspiring students and embracing diversity on college campuses. VSB has a long-standing relationship with EY; in fact, EY has been the top employer of Villanova students for the past two years, currently employing 315 alumni.

“Villanova is fortunate to have such an engaged corporate recruiting program with EY,” said Joyce E. A. Russell, PhD, The Helen and William O’Toole Dean of VSB. “People like Ken Bouyer, who give their time and talents to educate and impact our students, are part of the reason why we have a nearly 99 percent placement rate after graduation. Ken's message of global leadership through understanding, diversity and inclusivity aligns with our values for creating business leaders for a better world.”

Bouyer spent his day visiting multiple organizations and individuals focused on encouraging diversity throughout campus, such as the Center for Access, Success, and Achievement (CASA); Terry Nance, the Associate Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer; and a meeting with the Saint Thomas of Villanova Scholars and representatives from the Multicultural Business Society. In addition, Bouyer met with Accounting & IS faculty members and ended his day with his keynote speech: Leading Globally in Today's Business World.

During his speech, Boyer encouraged students to seek out diversity of thoughts and experiences. “Diversity is all of us; each one of you brings something different to Villanova” he said. Bouyer also stressed the importance of becoming global leaders by understanding people's differences in culture and experience. "Knowing and understanding these differences is important, but leveraging the differences is what truly enables a leader to be successful and stand out amongst their peers," he concluded.

According to Bouyer, he is responsible for developing and implementing EY’s recruiting strategy that focuses on creating a diverse talent pool where inclusiveness is defined broadly and includes gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, and generational differences. Fostering an inclusive culture where all individuals can achieve their full potential is a global priority and a business imperative for EY. The firm strives to reflect the changes in world demographics—taking into account the new mix of cultures and individual characteristics that build their talent pool. Bouyer is an accomplished public speaker and established industry resource cited regularly in major media outlets on various diversity and inclusiveness topics.

This event was just one of VSB’s many initiatives with EY, including EY’s sponsorship of the Villanova Read to Lead program and the Villanova University Career Center, the EY Emerging Leaders Program, and several on-campus recruiting events.

The Villanova School of Business (VSB) undergraduate program is ranked #1 in the nation by Bloomberg Businessweek and has been at the forefront of business education since it was founded in 1922. Serving over 2,700 undergraduate and graduate students, VSB is home to five Centers of Excellence (the Daniel M. DiLella Center for Real Estate, the Center for Business Analytics, the Center for Global Leadership, the Center for Marketing & Consumer Insights and the Center for Church Management), each designed to foster innovative, cross-disciplinary research and teaching opportunities for business faculty as well as experiential and industry-related learning opportunities for students. VSB is known for academic rigor; creativity and innovation; hands-on and service learning opportunities; a firm grounding in ethics; and an applied education that prepares students to become outstanding leaders and global citizens within the ever-changing, complex, and fast-paced world of business. For more, visit business.villanova.edu.