In celebration of International Women's Day in March 2022, we wanted to highlight that at PwC we respect and value differences. We know that when people from different backgrounds, with different experiences and with different points of view work together, we create the most value – for our clients, our people and society.
As part of those celebrations, we hosted a virtual session on 24 March to gain an insight into how our own people are inspired to be bold and to make exponential change happen. We heard stories of how our PwC women and men of all backgrounds have carved out exciting international careers for themselves. They talked about their key career accelerators, the mistakes that provoked habit changes for them, their views on Inclusion & Diversity, their international travels, sporting adventures, how they approach family life balance as we champion new flexibility to help our people work and live their best lives.
Ella Gardiner, Advisory Senior Associate
Ella joined PwC in Guernsey as a school-leaver aged 18, becoming a fully qualified accountant (ACCA) within three years. Fast forward to today and she's now a key member of our Business Restructuring Team (BRS) within our Advisory business.
The training and support Ella has had since day one of joining PwC, especially when she had to balance her studies with her day-to-day work, has really helped to build her confidence and the belief in herself that she can achieve great things. Maintaining an active lifestyle has also been of great benefit to Ella along the way.
Keeping and training horses has always formed a huge part of Ella’s life from an early age. PwC’s flexible approach to working means she’s in control of her daily routine, flexing her time in the office in a way that means she can still keep her horses happy and give them the attention they need.
Ella competes at a high level in showjumping both on the islands as well as frequently traveling to the UK to compete at an international level. PwC’s remote working policies mean she can focus on bringing home the silverware to Guernsey and still be a fully committed member of the Advisory team, working remotely when required. Everyone’s incredibly proud of Ella for her exceptional work ethic and her dedication to her beloved horses and we’re all very excited to see what the future holds for her.
Orla Rabey, Audit Associate
Having recently finished school, Orla joined our Guernsey office last year as an Audit Associate and is currently training to become a fully qualified accountant (ACCA).
A dedicated and motivated professional, Orla takes pride in her work and thrives on being part of a supportive, inclusive environment where she’s given every opportunity to be the best she can be. This extends beyond the office too, as Orla recently celebrated being selected to represent Guernsey at the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Along this exciting journey, Orla has had PwC’s full support, whilst putting in the hours of training in advance of team selection. Our flexible hours and remote working policies have enabled her to continue training and competing, without impacting on her learning and career development and PwC gets the absolute best out of Orla as a result. Everyone’s a winner!
We’ll be rooting for Orla this summer as she flies the flag for Guernsey. We’re so proud of her achievements so far and are very excited to see what the future holds for her both in the pool and as her career progresses further at PwC.
Paidamoyo Japondo, Tax Associate
Two years ago, Paidamoyo took a leap of faith and joined PwC’s Tax team in Guernsey, having previously held a financial advisor role in the UK. She has always taken a keen interest in Tax and jumped at the chance when an exciting opportunity presented itself to relocate to the island and get stuck into this sector.
As part of her day-to-day role, Paidamoyo covers various Tax areas, ranging from Personal Tax, to Company Tax and Tax advisory projects for clients across different jurisdictions. She really enjoys tapping into the global PwC network when working across a variety of international projects and has made many great professional and personal connections as a result.
Paidamoyo is fully supported in furthering her studies and is currently working towards her ACA qualification thanks to PwC’s learning and development team, who make sure she has no worries or concerns when it comes to covering college tuition fees or having adequate study leave.
An active member of PwC’s Sports and Social committee in Guernsey, Paidamoyo thrives on the camaraderie this brings whether that’s through sharing fun times on a staff day trip to Sark, chilling out at PwC’s staff summer festival or even trying her hand at Clay Pigeon shooting and Roller Skating! Paidamoyo is also a member of PwC's Wellbeing Committee in support of the wider network’s global investment in wellbeing, helping our people feel empowered and supported to put their wellbeing first. She plays an active role in launching important wellbeing initiatives, even becoming an Mental Health First-Aider and does her best to encourage an open and honest culture within the firm.
Outside of work, Paidamoyo enjoys socialising with the friends she's made since moving to the island. A keen entrepreneur, one new project Paidamoyo has ventured into during her spare time is the launch of her own mini hair salon, which she and her friends run at weekends - we’ve heard it’s been thriving, just like Paidamoyo!
Elisha Backhouse, Audit Senior Manager
Elisha joined our Guernsey office as a school-leaver aged 18. Within three years she was a fully qualified accountant (ACCA). Fast-forward to 2022, she’s 29, and a senior manager at the firm, having been promoted back in 2019.
The training Elisha received from day one on our PwC school-leaver scheme has boosted her confidence in so many areas, like when it comes to presentational skills, and she’s now well used to addressing both internal and external audiences at all levels.
Elisha’s a committee member of the Guernsey Investment and Funds Association (GIFA), which gives her the chance to collaborate regularly with the island’s broader investment community. Within the PwC Network she was also selected to be on the PwC MyWay leadership development program coordinated across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. A fantastic networking opportunity for Elisha, this PwC program helped her explore her own personal identity as a leader, and has resulted in her making firm friends with colleagues from diverse backgrounds across the globe.
To date, Elisha’s career at PwC has brought her to exciting locations like Brazil, Luxembourg, Dublin, NYC, Amsterdam, Miami and London, so her keenness to travel has definitely been realised. Who knows where her next international PwC project will take her?
Lydia Mollet, HR Manager
Lydia joined PwC 5 years ago as part of the Channel Islands Learning & Development team in Jersey as an Administrator. Even though it was her first professional role within an organisation, Lydia possessed a strong ability to show care and empathy toward her fellow colleagues, and looking back now - how she’s come on leaps and bounds… Since then, Lydia has moved into PwC’s lifecycle team within the Human Capital department as Senior Human Capital Officer.
From the beginning of the pandemic, Lydia worked with Senior Leadership to identify ways to best support our Channel Island employees. Lydia orchestrates the wellbeing catch-up initiative with individuals who feel they’re struggling and ensures that people’s concerns are listened to, captured and acted upon.
Lydia is instrumental in the creation of PwC’s Health & Wellbeing committee, which organises mental health first aid training across the Channel Islands to numerous staff members - a huge step forward for the firm.
The firm always looks to support Lydia through her career path, providing opportunities for growth and to gain valuable experience. A huge achievement in 2021 for Lydia was the completion of her Level 3 CIPD in People Management, a course fully funded by the firm. She now begins Level 7 - the equivalent to a Post Graduate degree - which we wish her the best of luck!
Phon Siney, Director
Born in Thailand, Phon relocated to Jersey as a young teen, completing her secondary education on the Island. After school, she tried her hand in retail locally, before securing a job with PwC’s finance team in 2006. However, once she heard about our school-leaver programme, she was drawn to apply and her confidence in herself was given a great boost when she was successful in her application as one of the first non-graduates to take up a trainee auditor position at PwC Channel Islands.
Fast forward 15 years and Phon sometimes needs to pinch herself to believe she has fulfilled her ultimate career ambition of becoming an audit director at PwC, having been promoted to this level in 2020. She puts a lot of her success down to the belief that PwC’s leadership team and others around her have always had in her, and has proven the occasional doubter wrong along the way too. She now thrives on passing on similar encouragement to the junior members of her own team.
Phon is one of our key Inclusion and Diversity ambassadors within the firm, and understands just how important it is to have people from different cultures and backgrounds, each diversely talented and with different points of view, working together to do exceptional things.
Nurturing future talent from a very early age is something Phon feels strongly about and is why she plays an active role supporting PwC’s Hive Hackers programme. The aim of this initiative is to inspire, encourage and prepare children for a world of technology through exposure to innovative digital education. By developing the digital skill set of children, especially young girls, as individuals, they become more confident contributors to society, the economy and the environment and Phon plays her part daily in making this happen.
Erick Dengura, Audit Director
Erick is from Zimbabwe, and relocated to Guernsey 9 years ago to join PwC as a qualified Senior Associate looking for exposure to Financial Services audits. He was promoted to the role of Audit Director in September 2021, specialising in working with asset and wealth management clients.
To date as part of his international career path at PwC, Erick has had the opportunity to travel for audit assignments to many different countries such as Saudi Arabia and Ireland in addition to frequent trips to the UK.
His own motto is "Learn something new everyday", and in this era of rapid technological development, he makes sure to do just that on a daily basis, by accessing the variety of digital upskilling platforms and experts available to us such as Digital Lab and Digital Accelerators.
Importantly, Erick really values the sense of family and community at the heart of PwC and highly values the flexibility available to him, so that he can be there for his two young daughters for those important family and school life celebrations. This motivates Erick to give his best to PwC every day. Thanks to our flexibility policy, Erick has the freedom as a highly valued and trusted member of the firm to literally work from anywhere that suits him best, so long as he makes his availability clear in his calendar. As a result, he can be front row at his daughters' school concerts and sports days, just like a proud dad should be!
Jawad Khan, Audit Senior Manager
Jawad is a Senior Manager at PwC based in our Guernsey office. He is highly motivated in his role, which in part is down to his hard work and dedication but also thanks to the flexibility he has to maintain an important work/life balance. Jawad has an incredibly precious bond with his young daughter, having ample time to nurture a precious relationship with her, whilst also carving out a successful career within the firm.
Jawad’s father sadly passed away in Pakistan due to COVID-19 and despite the usual pressures of busy season, his PwC colleagues got stuck in to alleviate the workload so he could immediately step away and focus on being there for his family. It’s gestures like this that can make a big difference to our people and we genuinely do our best to look out for each other especially during these more difficult times.
Just as Jawad has highlighted how PwC supports him with his family life, he also gives as much back to the firm in the form of tutoring and mentoring junior colleagues. The real reward for him is in seeing others succeed and progress, knowing he has a part to play in it.
Evgenia Litvintseva-Demetriou, Audit Director
Evgenia joined PwC Channel Islands in 2015 as an assurance manager in our Guernsey office after relocating to the island with her young family.
The importance of keeping the balance between family and work - without compromising on any of the two is incredibly important to Evgenia.
Evgenia has benefited greatly from various upskilling opportunities within the firm and is highly experienced as a result in dealing with her broad range of clientele, spanning across the Asset Wealth Management, Insurance and Real Estate industries.
With the birth of her third child in Guernsey, Evgenia was greatly supported by PwC throughout and the flexible working options on offer to her made her return to work after her maternity leave as smooth as possible.
Fast forward to now, and the results are in - a happy mother of three, energised and motivated to continue to learn and grow, providing value to her clients and encouraging the development of her team. Evgenia was promoted to Director in 2021 and despite the responsibilities that come with this senior leadership role, she can still carve out ample time to enjoy either a salsa party, or to support her children on the football pitch or their fencing competitions.
Lyndall Grewar, Risk and Compliance Director
Lyndall is our Compliance Director, having relocated to Jersey from South Africa. She thoroughly enjoys working in a firm filled with dynamic, intelligent women who have different dreams and aspirations, knowing that they’re all fully supported in achieving their goals.
From an early age Lyndall knew she wanted to build a successful career as a woman. She hails PwC as helping her realise that dream, providing support throughout her career and welcoming her into her director role.
Lyndall throughout her career has had the skill and confidence to navigate moving into industry, utilising her knowledge and talent to build valuable experience as a compliance professional.
On her return to the firm 2 and a half years ago, she was made to feel right at home - PwC’s flexible work policy providing invaluable support as a working mother. No matter the challenges a day at the office might give rise to, family comes first and leaving early or at short notice to be there for her daughter will never be questioned or frowned upon.
There are many strong female leaders in our firm, and Lyndall is truly one of them, and she is inspired by them and they’re inspired by her - showing her determination for a challenge and the continuous leadership that she drives her department.
Temidayo Akinsete, Audit Manager
Temi has achieved his dream as a graduate by working at PwC. From utilising the power of the PwC network, including opportunities to work at PwC offices in Nigeria and Liberia, through to progressing to Audit Manager based in our Jersey office - a promotion he secured within 10 months of joining the local firm. Temi is also a keen advocate for all things digital and tech, and a great ambassador when it comes to PwC's Inclusion and Diversity ambitions.
Having already had the opportunity to work across three international PwC offices - Nigeria, Liberia and the Channel Islands - has allowed him to access different teams and gain a deeper understanding of different behaviours, cultures and industries. His technical and interpersonal skills have truly been better for it.
Relocating to Jersey has been incredibly rewarding for Temi, enabling him to work on complex transactions and portfolios across such areas as Banking and Capital Markets, Private Equity, Real Estate and Funds markets. Temi credits PwC by not only helping him carve out an exciting and successful career path, but by connecting him with friends for life, who have also been instrumental to his development, becoming more like family than colleagues along the way.
A captivating individual with a real zest for life, Temi firmly believes choosing PwC has opened many doors to him fulfilling his dreams. As he takes us on his journey, we can’t wait to see what step Temi will take next.
Charley Sampson, Audit Senior Manager
Born and raised in Jersey, Charley left school in 2014 to join PwC locally. She became ACA exam qualified by the age of 21. Joining as a school-leaver meant she had no uni fees to deal with, but lots of opportunities to build lifelong friendships thanks to the camaraderie at the firm and the fun, yet competitive spirit open to her through PwC’s sports tours, ranging from netball to hockey to touch rugby. Charley has always taken an active role in our community engagement projects and is a great PwC brand ambassador, representing us at various career fairs and school talks.
From Barcelona to Berlin, Charley has seizes every opportunity given to her to travel as part of her role. Once qualified, she was supported by PwC to take three months off to explore Asia and then, in 2018, she relocated to our Sydney firm for three years, where she held a chief of staff role in Australia for her team of 90. Charley also carved out time to become a mental health first aider in the Sydney office, in support of PwC’s global investment in wellbeing, helping our people feel empowered and supported to put their wellbeing first.
Fast forward to 2022 and Charley is now on the management team back in our Jersey office and continues to build her team leadership skills under the mentorship of PwC leaders, who understand the importance of developing the next generation of leaders.
Tori Davis, Senior Manager
Tori is our Sustainability and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) specialist, with a focus on climate risk reporting and sustainability regulatory compliance.
Having firstly trained with us as an auditor upon leaving school, Tori worked primarily in the private equity, asset wealth management and real estate sectors, she took a leap of faith in 2019, relocating to PwC’s Toronto office, to embark on an exciting international cycle of experience.
A very passionate advocate for the planet and for fighting climate change, Tori jumped at the chance to develop her ESG skills whilst in Canada, all the time maintaining a great working relationship back home with our Jersey-based ESG Director, Ali Cambray, who provided her with hoards of advice, feedback and mentoring support.
Tori returned to Jersey in 2021 and began a brand new role as ESG Manager in Advisory, working alongside Ali. This is a role she is incredibly passionate about, and she’s grateful to her team for continuing to support her ongoing professional development.
Tori was granted time off in December to travel to Antarctica and participate in citizen-led science initiatives, gathering data to support PHD research into the effects of climate change on the Antarctic continent. We’re very proud of her achievements so far and look forward to seeing where this incredibly vital work takes her.
