2024 Coordinator of the Year Connects Colleagues With Community

When Assurance Principal Greg Turner joined BDO’s Boston office in April 2020, he was ready to meet people and build relationships. Then along came the pandemic — and the subsequent work-from-home mandate — and his new colleague introductions became Microsoft Teams windows on a laptop. 

Like many who started new roles during this time, his onboarding took a different shape. Instead of letting distance win, Turner treated it as an opportunity. “The pandemic made it more difficult to establish personal connections, but it also made it more important to do so,” he says.

Turning ‘Teams’ Screens Into Team Spirit

Turner found his answer in BDO Counts, initially joining the Boston BDO Counts Committee, then quickly stepping into the role of the office’s BDO Counts coordinator. His goal was simple: Create ways for people to connect beyond deadlines and deliverables. “One of the things I thought was important was finding ways for us to connect with each other outside the office — outside of the technical work we do,” he says.

Turner started by asking colleagues what causes they were passionate about, which sparked a relationship with Cradles to Crayons. The response was immediate with teams signing up for two-hour shifts to build distribution packs for children in the community. “By seeing the work they’d done and knowing the effect it would have on local children, people felt a sense of accomplishment,” he says. 

Participation has grown so much that the office sometimes hits capacity limits. “We have a cap every year, based on what we can donate and what the organization can handle,” Turner says.

Building Community Through Communication

For Turner — who was named the 2024 BDO Counts Coordinator of the Year — momentum comes down to two things: communication and leadership. He sends regular updates throughout the year — what the office has done, what’s next and what they’re achieving — so volunteering stays top of mind. “With the volume of emails I send, it doesn’t feel like they’re hearing from me for the first time,” he says. He also credits leaders who show up, encourage participation and invite him to share updates at practice meetings.

Now in his third year as coordinator, Turner isn’t satisfied with steady growth — he’s eager to keep building momentum. He has worked closely with the national Social Impact team to measure office participation in BDO Counts events throughout the year and credits the team for its support of BDO Counts coordinators.

“Greg is a shining example of what it means to help our communities — and our people —  thrive,” says Social Impact Senior Director Chad Gabriel. “He embodies all the qualities we look for when choosing the BDO Counts Coordinator of the Year.”

An Inclusive Approach

While Cradles to Crayons has become a Boston tradition, Turner keeps widening the circle. Recently, the office added three new charitable efforts brought forward by colleagues, including the Pan-Mass Challenge bike-a-thon and the Jimmy Fund Walk, which support cancer research, as well as a 5k and half marathon road race to combat food insecurity.

In another example of how Turner goes above and beyond in supporting all the firm’s Social Impact programs, he’s also focused on ensuring people get credit for the good they’re already doing — whether through office events or volunteering on their own — by encouraging them to log activities in Deed, the firm’s employee giving and volunteering platform. “I want to make sure people know that the volunteering they’re doing outside the office can earn service credit that they can eventually donate to charities,” Turner says. “You have the ability to grow your impact on an organization with this donation.”

Turner’s drive to give back is rooted in experience. Raised in a working-class family in Kingston, Jamaica, he saw firsthand how meaningful support can be, and volunteering has been part of his life ever since. 

“As I’ve progressed in my career and gained more stability, I’ve felt an even stronger responsibility to contribute — to ‘lift as we climb,’” he says. “Helping people thrive shouldn’t stop with the technical work we do; our communities should feel the impact, too.”

Mentorship Connections

BDO Counts isn’t the only way Turner builds community at BDO. He also reaches out to newer professionals — especially those starting remotely — offering informal mentorship and a chance to talk through the transition. “I know what it’s like to come to an organization in a predominantly remote setting and try to figure out how to build relationships,” he says. That commitment to mentorship also extends beyond the firm, helping earn the Boston office a nomination for the BDO Counts Impact Award in the Education & Literacy cause area. With Turner’s leadership, colleagues volunteered as mentors in the MassCPA ACE Leadership Program and supported Year Up through a professional clothing drive — equipping students with confidence, career readiness and access to new pathways.