Difference Makers Podcast
We created this podcast in order to celebrate the lives and work of people who have transformed communities, businesses, and the wider world, making a real difference in the lives of others. We call them "Difference Makers". Some overcame great personal adversity in their journey. They all showed the knowledge, perspective, skills and capabilities to lead, to achieve, and to make real change when it is needed most. Oh, and by the way... they are all Chartered Accountants!
Find out more at https://www.charteredaccountantsworldwide.com
Difference Makers Podcast
Young Difference Makers S03 Ep 04 From Accounting to Sustainability: Lavanya Ramanujan's Inspiring Journey
Discover the remarkable journey of Lavanya Ramanujan, an accountant at Google, who defied expectations by turning an unexpected leap into the field of accounting into a fulfilling career intertwined with her passion for sustainability. Lavanya shares her insights on the profound impact of skills-based volunteering and advisory roles, particularly with the Ground Up Initiative in Singapore. Her story is a testament to the power of community involvement and purpose-driven work, as she recounts how a dedicated team of volunteers laid down the foundation to support GUI's mission with standard operating procedures, further reinforcing her commitment to sustainability through her involvement with ICAEW.
We also engage in a thoughtful discussion about the importance of understanding individual differences in communication. Moving beyond the golden rule, Lavanya champions a more personalized approach to interaction—treating others as they wish to be treated. This perspective has not only fueled her personal growth but has also inspired her to pursue excellence in her professional role and sustainability efforts. Lavanya's tale is a powerful reminder of how the pursuit of passion and dedication to community-focused initiatives can drive both personal and professional success, offering valuable insights into the intersection of career and personal growth.
Who or what has been my biggest inspiration in my professional journey? Well, I would probably say the people around me. There are several people around me who pursue excellence and positive impact, and everyone's passionate about different things, but they go at it with a drive that's inspiring. Hi, I'm Lavanya Ramanujan. I'm currently an accountant at Google, a part of the Google Search Singapore Call Committee and an advisor to management at Ground Up Initiative, a social good organisation based in Singapore. So I'm within the international controllership team at Google as an accountant and I'm involved in the sustainability space, primarily through the social sector. So, funnily enough, my journey into the world of finance has been as unplanned as my journey to sustainability has been deliberate. I never really enjoyed accounting when I was schooling and never thought I would do accounting and I say this after having spent my whole career on just accounting so perhaps I'll share a little story about this. I stumbled into the field with an award that the previous company I was working at, deloitte, was giving out. This was called the Deloitte Inspire Gold Award and was given to students demonstrating academic achievements along with contributions to sports, arts or community work. I had applied to the award just before the window closed and without any expectation of really getting it, and was so surprised when I ended up getting it. The award came with an internship and cash prize, but Deloitte was kind enough to additionally offer me a full-time job at that point. I still don't think I'm passionate about accounting specifically, but I have loved, and still love, the work that I get to do as an accountant. As someone who grew up spending a lot of my time in and around nature, I've always been passionate about preserving our planet for future generations. Sustainability, for me, provides that sweet intersection to combine what I care about with what I do professionally, and so I've been intentional about learning more about the topic, participating in the communities that are in the sustainability space and in pursuing certifications, including the one with ICEW, that will enable me to contribute even more.
Speaker 1:My journey into climate-focused contributions in the social sector were actually also by happenstance. At that time, I was doing pro bono consulting with an organisation called Kenjang Consulting. It was my first taste of skills-based volunteering, and I was really enjoying it. I decided that I wanted to continue doing skills-based volunteering, but within a specific non-profit. One of our consulting projects we had worked on was with an organization called Jane Goodall Institute, singapore, and they happened to need people to join their management team, or planning team as we used to call it. Given my interest in sustainability, one of my friends from Conjunct Consulting, trudsy, asked me if I'd like to join the team, and we ended up joining together. From there I moved into Ground Up Initiative, where I am now an advisor to management. Ground Up Initiative, or GUI for short, is a non-profit in Singapore that brings together the climate and social aspects of sustainability.
Speaker 1:Icw membership has been fantastic for me. Through ICW, I've had the opportunity to do a variety of things speak in panels, judge case competitions and even now participate in this podcast. Icw is fantastic in amplifying its members' work, even beyond accounting. I was fortunate to be included on the honour roll as an ICW climate champion and got to do a case study with the team earlier this year. The stories of my fellow listees and, in fact, being considered for the listing in the first place have really pushed me in thinking about how I can do more in the sustainability space. There are a couple more opportunities spoken about too that I'm looking forward to learning from. On the topic of learning, I will also be very honest that I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to my accounting modules in school because I never thought I'd pursue anything even remotely accounting related professionally which again is a happy irony now. So the process of getting qualified was really helpful and drilling down into accounting is a subject and fun fact. I still have some of the books and materials that I use for my preparation.
Speaker 1:Gui is a non-profit in Singapore that provides a space, literally and figuratively, for people to connect with nature, with others and with themselves, so this topic is very special to me. Gui is blessed with a community of the most giving, humble and grateful people. There is such a sense of connectedness, care and shared responsibility in the collective group. Gui believes that the key ingredients for humans to thrive are, first of all, connection with nature, secondly, a purpose in life, thirdly, a healthy body and mind and fourthly, a community to connect with, and it looks to provide a platform for all of the above. Some of the things GUI does includes running farm programs where participants can freely get their hands dirty, programs where participants can freely get their hands dirty. There are craft workshops conducted focused on turning waste into useful materials, while getting the community involved in the process. Gui's flagship program is called Balik Kampong, which means return to the village. Balik Kampong is run weekly and involves having volunteers gather together and do a variety of activities like composting, tending to the farm and natural building.
Speaker 1:One notable project that comes to mind is probably something that we did last year. Gui was considering applying to obtain charity status and wanted to make sure that it had more robust and well-documented processes and controls in place. So I put my hand up to look into creating and documenting SOPs. The ask for volunteers to join me was just through word of mouth on my personal networks. In a span of two weeks, we had gathered a team of 10 to 15 skills-based volunteers who were ready and willing to help. Within six months, we had put together 10 SOPs and socialized them with the process owners piece and socialize them with the process owners. A big shout out to the amazing team that came together so readily, worked so closely without even knowing each other before and put together something that's helpful to GUI even today. I mention this because it reminds me regularly about how generous people are and how much they're willing to give.
Speaker 1:Kindness and empathy have both been so critical in my life as a whole, not just in what I celebrated as achievements, but also in what I've seen as huge rooms for improvement. I have the best people around me, and I'm sure I'm missing out many, many examples from this, but I'll highlight four that come to mind immediately. One person who has literally trained me in thinking from a lens of kindness and empathy is probably my coach, caroline. I remember even getting a little emotional when Caroline first offered to be my coach, because that in itself was such a kindness that she was showing in going out of her way to invest in me. But beyond that, she has worked with me on thinking and communicating from a fundamental lens of empathy. Secondly, the places you put yourself in and the people that you surround yourself with are so key in facilitating your own displays of kindness towards the people you interact with. Showing empathy and thinking for others requires that you have the space and comfort to go outside yourself.
Speaker 1:In my current team at Google, I have the chance to work with two amazing mentors, claire and Junpei, who give me the support, prioritization and role modeling to focus on building my muscle of kindness and empathy. When I started working with them, I was in awe of how they're able to build both accountability and relationships with ease, and I remain in awe. Even today, they show me that kindness does not come in the way of getting things done, but instead is a superpower that facilitates both getting things done and people having a good experience while getting things done. Thirdly, there are just multiple people who have shown kindness towards me even when they've really not had to. Here, I think of Cecilia, whom I work with and consider as a mentor figure. With Cecilia, I have the safety to experiment, challenge and be challenged. The patience, transparency and candor, which are all aspects of kindness that she's shown me, have been, I would say, necessary in building up both my confidence and competence. Being in this environment has reminded me to show kindness to myself, which I definitely don't do often enough. Lastly, there is kindness in giving of yourself, and I see it in all the volunteering communities I've been a part of. So kindness and empathy are critical in building myself, others and the communities I'm a part of, in allowing me to be able to think beyond myself. I've also received a lot from many people. I'm grateful for each of them and I hope I do their effort justice.
Speaker 1:So what advice would I give to young professionals aspiring to make a positive impact in both the finance and sustainability sectors. I have four pieces of advice. Firstly, that not everyone needs to contribute the same way. You can volunteer to build up the manpower and resilience of social good organisations, like what I'm doing. There are social good organisations doing good work. You can donate to them to help them continue doing what they're doing. There are social good organizations doing good work. You can donate to them to help them continue doing what they're doing. You can participate in sustainability-centric activities and build the community that exists. Dui, for example, has CSR programs that would benefit from partnerships. You can work for an organization that is contributing positively to work as a sustainability agenda, and you can even educate yourself on what you can do personally by way of your daily choices that could contribute positively.
Speaker 1:So there are many, many ways in which one can contribute. Secondly, that you can contribute outside of your day job. I have been working with SGOs outside of my core role throughout my career and have really enjoyed being able to do so. Thirdly, that you can contribute inside of your day job. Finance professionals today play a role in how organizations set measure, act on and report. You and I actually may have an opportunity to participate, and at that juncture I hope that we're able to influence in an educated, positive and suitable manner. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly and this may not have come across as clearly as it should have, but I just wanted to say that underpinning all my experiences have been a lot of privilege, luck and kindness from others. Luck and kindness from others and this is not advice, really, but perhaps a wish that anyone who wants to make a positive impact is empowered to do so. Like I have been, perhaps jumping off the leadership conversation from earlier.
Speaker 1:Even until recently and I'm being vulnerable here I used to have a lot of anxiety, and this would manifest in the way I would interact with others. Say, if there was a deadline in my head out things to be fixed, for example rather than also recognizing what had gone well and the massive effort that probably went into that, I would actually still be thinking for the team. It's just that to me, at that point, jointly finishing the goal would be the big win. And when I was in a state of anxiety, I deprioritized the process and experience of my teammates. With the help of many, many people, including the brave and open feedback from the same team members who witnessed this, I've now broadened my definition of what a successful outcome looks like, which includes both process and task outcomes. I know how much I value people in relationships and they're now a part of the outcomes I focus on. I'm finding that, instead of thinking of relationships as being something outside of quote-unquote work, this also helps me find more congruence in how I operate and what I care about.
Speaker 1:The second thing would also be my almost silly behavior of placing the expectations that I had of myself exactly onto others, expecting them to have the same priorities, experiences, strengths and ways of communication as I did, and obviously that isn't and shouldn't be the case. So I've come to realize that the old saying around treating others as you want to be treated probably isn't the best advice for me. For me, it's now more of treating others as they want and should be treated. Yeah, so those would be two and gosh, sharing these has been very therapeutic. Who, or what, has been my biggest inspiration in my professional journey? Well, I would probably say the people around me are several people around me who pursue excellence and positive impact, and everyone's passionate about different things, but they go at it with a drive that's inspiring. So I'm just one of them and I've chosen to focus on doing better at my role as an accountant and in giving back in the sustainability space. I guess sometimes it's in the small but persistent things you see around you that really draw your inspiration.
