Young Difference Makers S03 Ep 04 From Accounting to Sustainability: Lavanya Ramanujan's Inspiring Journey

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 .

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 . 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 .

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 . 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 .

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 . 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 .

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 . 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 .

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 .

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 .