Welcome to the inaugural issue of Connect, Ernst & Young’s magazine specifically for and about you, our alumni.

As you know first-hand, Ernst & Young has always been about helping people achieve their potential, thereby making a difference to each other, the clients we serve and our communities. As alumni, you have helped sustain these values, creating the solid foundation on which Ernst & Young is built today. And for that, we are grateful.

There are more than 230,000 Ernst & Young alumni living in the Americas today — and they continue to make a difference. Our alumni provide leadership to many of the most prestigious businesses in the world. Alumni donate their time and talents to a host of charities and community service organizations. Some alumni pursue the entrepreneurial dream, creating innovative products and services while generating thousands of new jobs. Ernst & Young alumni include Fortune 500 board chairs, public policy-makers, missionaries, accounting professors, federal judges — the list goes on and on. To help this diverse and far-reaching group stay connected, we have established alumni efforts in the US and Canada and are developing similar networks in Mexico, Central America, South America and Israel.

Regardless of where our paths have led us, we all live in uncertain times. The current financial crisis is challenging for everyone. It is especially in times like these that we appreciate the friendships — those constant relationships born from shared experiences and deep, common values — that bind us together and that will always be a part of us.

This publication commemorates the legacy of leadership that you, our alumni, have created at Ernst & Young — a legacy of quality, integrity, respect and teaming. We would not be where we are today if it were not for the leadership, dedication and exemplary values of those who went before.

We hope you enjoy the magazine.