I grew up in Uganda, East Africa. My dad was an accountant, which gave us stability and financial security in a war-ravaged economy. I admired my father’s dedication to his work and always wanted to emulate him. My first job was with accounting firm PKF Uganda as an external auditor, but I always wanted to work with humanitarian aid agencies. Over my career I’ve worked with top-tier agencies such as JRS, ActionAid and UNHCR.
At ActionAid Uganda I was promoted to audit manager at the age of 27. I was the first female in the role to lead a team of young professional men. It was daunting initially but we grew through respect and trust. After moving to Australia, I had to start all over again in the face of overwhelming scrutiny. I journeyed to become a finance manager and to mentor a brilliant team of high-performing young women. There is no greater happiness and fulfilment than helping people and making their lives better.
Beyond the figures and key performance indicators are human connections
As a finance manager at not-for-profit Many Rivers Microfinance, I’m involved in all financial aspects: financial reporting, ensuring compliance and contributing to strategic insights. Beyond the figures and key performance indicators are human connections – the clients and communities we serve – so there’s a buzz about seeing the numbers every month. Many Rivers is a robust not-for-profit with an amazing track record of impact. The leaders always invest in innovation, and the organisation is equally matched with great thinkers with vision.
ACCA has been pivotal in my career progression. Having a prestigious qualification with global recognition has levelled the playing field and facilitated the transition from a developing country to an advanced economy. Humanitarian work with the UN, although greatly satisfying, was always fraught with risk. After giving birth to my son, I moved to Australia for a safer environment and better quality of life. The ACCA qualification gave me valuable points in Australia’s points-based skilled migration system, enabling me to secure permanent residency, and making it easy and relatively fast to enter the job market.
I’ve been extremely fortunate to have amazing mentors at every turn of my career
I’ve been extremely fortunate to have amazing mentors at every turn of my career. Charles Oguttu, managing partner at PKF Uganda, encouraged me to pursue ACCA and shaped my idea of professionalism. Later on, at ActionAid, Geoffrey Nuwanya and Florence Apur always believed in me when I was assailed with self-doubt. And Simon Pachos and Ash Tran at Many Rivers have been extremely encouraging in my professional journey as a team leader.
I hope to go back to humanitarian-focused work one day. In fact, if I weren’t an accountant, I’d probably be a lawyer helping women and other disadvantaged groups in distress, or perhaps a psychologist, as I do find human behaviour fascinating and infinitely intriguing.
I spend my weekends and free time with my son and my dog going on long beach walks. We recently started kayaking, and it’s exciting and fun with an element of danger – especially if one gets lost in the maze of upriver tributaries.
