Smith School Senior Awarded ACG Scholarship

Rachel Seymone Ellis stands with Tom Edgar, of T.R Edgar and Associates and an ACG board member, after receiving her scholarship.

Rachel Seymone Ellis, a rising Smith School senior pursuing a degree in accounting and information systems, was awarded a prestigious scholarship by the National Capital chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth, Inc. (ACG).

“ACG has a scholarship for students so we can get exposure in the real business world and network,” Ellis said. “I applied for the scholarship during the spring semester last year. I wanted to apply because I heard from professor Patricia Cleveland how wonderful the scholarship was, one, because of the nice sum of money – $6,000 – and, two, because student scholars get a free annual membership to attend all of the ACG events.”

ACG is a premier global association with more than 12,000 members from corporations, private equity, finance, and professional service firms. The association has 53 chapters in North America and Europe, and offers its scholarship each year to students in the metro area.

“The scholarship program is a multi-level process. First, the Smith School selects two students to go to the ACG headquarters in McLean, Va., to interview with the ACG scholarship board,” Ellis explained about the scholarship process. “Second, the ACG board goes through all the contestants and chooses the winners based on GPA, extracurricular activities and professional mindset. The competition is always intense, since the board selects students from all around the D.C. region.”

During her time at the Robert H. Smith School of Business and the University of Maryland, Ellis has been actively involved in extracurricular and social activities. She was elected by her Smith peers to serve as the undergraduate senator for two consecutive years. She is also known around the business school for the Personal Financial Literacy seminars she hosts, mentoring other students on how to create and host their own programs.

Additionally, Ellis serves as the vice president of finance for the Phi Kappa Phi honors fraternity and is an active member of her National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) chapter. Outside the classroom, she gains real-world experience through internships in the accounting industry, interning in the Federal Audit practice at KPMG for the past three summers. She is part of the university’s Honors Program and is teaching an Honors class for freshmen this year.