ICAS’s top Scottish accountants under 35 in profile – Natalie Jackson CA, 33, Associate, QMPF LLP

Thirteen Scottish-based accountants have been named among ICAS’s 35 Chartered Accountants (CAs) under 35 for 2017.

For 13 days Scottish Financial News will be profiling each of the Scottish representatives. Today we profile: Natalie Jackson CA, 33, Associate, QMPF LLP, Edinburgh, who is nominated in the Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility category.

Natalie graduated from the University of St Andrews in 2009 with a degree in Mathematics and Chemistry. Whilst at university, Natalie completed a 6-week summer internship at EY and following this, she was offered a full-time position at EY starting in 2010, where she completed her CA training. Natalie has spent extended periods of time living and working in Africa. She currently works at QMPF LLP in Edinburgh. Natalie has an interest in sustainable finance as well as international development and has strived to align these areas to create change in her professional and personal life.

I chose my career path to follow my interest in how finance can be used to benefit society and deliver sustainable financial, social and environmental returns.

Whilst at university I completed a 6-week summer internship at EY. Following this I was offered a full-time role within the organisation. I deferred my start as I was keen to explore first-hand how business could be used as to alleviate poverty. I volunteered in a rural village community in Swaziland with a vision to be self-sustaining by 2020, using the profits from local businesses to support an orphan population (www.bulembu.org). I worked with the local accountant and saw first-hand how successful businesses could provide a brighter future for orphan children. I am returning to Swaziland later this year and look forward to seeing how the community is progressing towards self-sufficiency.

I started my CA training with EY in September 2010 and worked in the corporate finance team in Edinburgh. During my time at EY I worked on several different remits including an independent review of a healthcare centre and the formal restructuring of a business in the construction industry. Through EY, I was accepted to participate in the EY Enterprise Growth Services programme which places staff in social impact businesses in the global south.

In September 2013, I moved to Uganda and started working for the impact investing arm of a Swedish Private Equity house assessing veterinary businesses that they had invested in. The overarching aim of the veterinary businesses was to treat cattle for African Sleeping Sickness and sustainably improve local healthcare outcomes in the country). During this remit, I worked with the Ugandan government on their policies to combat sleeping sickness, this taught me the importance of public and private sector collaboration in delivering social impact projects. Following my return from Uganda, I wanted to align my personal values with my professional life.

In November 2014, I secured a role at QMPF LLP, my current employer. QMPF is a bespoke corporate finance firm specialising in education, infrastructure and renewable energy projects. In this role, I work with public and private sector clients and advise on funding options available. I work with a wide variety of organisations including the Scottish Government, UK universities, the European Investment Bank, commercial lenders and ethical banks. I have worked on various projects including obtaining grant funding to enable a Scottish district heating scheme and helping a university secure funds for campus development.

Outside of work, I maintain a passion for international development and Africa. I have completed online courses such as the World Bank’s ‘Financing for Development’ and a ‘Global Development Challenges’ course through the University of Edinburgh. For the latter, I wrote an essay about the role of impact investing in achieving the SDGs.

I am interested in innovation in finance and have completed a piece of research for an advocacy based organisation called RESULTS (http://results.org/) investigating whether Trust Funds are a sustainable mechanism for financing immunization programmes in the global south, this research will be used to inform future lobbying focus for results.

I volunteer as an editor for Kiva, an online crowdfunding platform for entrepreneurs in the global south.

I was recently accepted as a volunteer for the ‘Grow Movement’, a non-profit organisation which pairs business professionals with entrepreneurs in Africa to provide advice. I will start this role in August.

I am committed to ICAS and sit on the ICAS Members Engagement Board and I am an ICAS mentor.

I have also written an article for CA online content entitled ‘Why it pays to invest sustainably’.