More than 130 attendees gathered in what was the largest gathering of the chapter’s student membership to date. Attendees were represented from a number of surrounding universities, including:

• DePaul University
• Illinois Institute of Technology
• Indiana University - Bloomington
• Loyola University - Chicago
• Northern Illinois University
• Ohio State University
• Purdue University
• Southern Illinois University
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• University of Rochester
• Vanderbilt University

The Midwest Chapter also hosted its second annual case competition at the conference. The Indiana University team came in first place, defending their case competition win from the 2012 Ascend National Convention. Northern Illinois University finished in a close second place.

The conference was sponsored by a number of Chicagoland companies, including:

• Baker Tilly Virchow Krause
• Deloitte
• Ernst & Young
• Grant Thornton
• KPMG
• PricewaterhouseCoopers
• Yunistone

Building on the inspiration and energy created by the students at the Student Leadership Conference, the Midwest Chapter Board is looking forward to hosting a larger conference in the next year.

Ladder^up’s VITA events help low-income families with tax preparation and facilitated millions of dollars in tax returns to thousands of families in the Chicagoland area.  On April 14th, 14 volunteers including 7 from KPMG helped 38 families obtain tax refunds of $31,573 or over $830 per family – a significant amount for low income families in these economic times.

We thank the volunteers who represented ASCEND who not only spent an evening with fellow members greeting individuals, preparing, reviewing and assembling tax returns, but also had to attend a training session and pass an exam!  Every year, Ladder^up VITA sessions run through April at convenient Chicagoland locations.  For those that may be interested in volunteering next year, you can check out the event schedule and sign up at www.goladderup.org.  We look forward to seeing more volunteers at next year’s volunteer event and making even a bigger impact in our communities.