Catherine (D’Acchioli) Parente ’78, CPA is no stranger to breaking barriers. “Sometimes I was the only woman in my class,” she recalls. She became one of Rhode Island’s first female partners in a CPA firm in 1987 and is the first woman to be named a partner at Sansiveri, Kimball & Co., LLP, where she specializes in fraud examination and financial forensics. 

“I was a first-generation college student, and my parents worked very hard to give me and my sister that opportunity. The idea of establishing a scholarship appealed to me as a way to help the next generations of students in some small way.”

Parente established the Parente Accounting Scholarship Fund in 2014 in memory of her parents, Ernest and Grace D’Acchioli, who instilled in her a solid work ethic and perseverance. She finds it gratifying to meet the scholarship recipients, knowing full well the hard work and focus it takes to achieve success at Bryant and beyond.

A long-time supporter of her alma mater, Parente has donated to her annual scholarship and the President’s Cup Golf Tournament throughout Expanding the World of Opportunity: The Campaign for Bryant’s Bold Future.