When Baylor Foundation Uganda finance director Marie Nassiwa-Martin made the leap from the UK back to her home country, she had to make some tough calls. But through it all, her resilience, rigour and integrity continue to be a beacon for her peers in the profession.
About a decade ago, when she lived in Glasgow, Scotland, Marie Nassiwa-Martin began to contemplate going back home to Uganda. On a whim, she signed up to a website that posted advertisements about jobs in Africa as she toyed with the possibility of returning for only a year. But soon after, she received a phone call that would seal the deal.
“I was six weeks away from giving birth. So, I took a short flight to London to meet with the executives from Umeme, and they invited me over to Uganda. A couple of weeks after that, I met with the MD and so on. And I got the job as manager for accounting,” she says.
After the end of her probation, the company restructured and Marie was appointed as finance manager. But her experiences at the utility put her training to the test.
“I actually went back and applied all the accounting that I had ever studied. There are some accounting standards that you have never even thought about, but sometimes you find yourself in a situation and you actually have to go and research the accounting standard and see how you can apply it,” she says.
Once, she fired off an email to the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) after she differed with an auditor over the right accounting treatment for an item. After she presented the auditor’s view and her own, the association concluded that Marie’s was the correct treatment. Over time, she made sure reporting was completed on time and as prescribed. This is how Marie approaches nearly every challenge she encounters in her career: by the book.
Attention to detail
“I want the report coming from you to be as clean as possible, so that it could actually go to the board even without my review. And I think people found that a bit difficult because they were not used to that. They send in whatever, even when they know it’s not 100 percent, because they know the director would spend hours cleaning it. And I said ‘No, I’m going to kill myself if I do this’. So, I would send it back and say ‘Please correct A B C’, and for them that was a bit of a shocker,” she says.
But her most challenging time at the utility was when the company had to write off certain revenues and report a loss, to the chagrin of its top executives. This also meant the company risked breaching some of its loan agreements. To ensure the auditors gave an unqualified report, Marie engaged the banks, explained the situation and secured waivers.
“That was a difficult thing because obviously people recognised those revenues with reason at that time. But I had to come and say, ‘These things are no longer recoverable’ and it was a lot of money, about 32 million dollars. This meant we had to report a loss. So, it wasn’t taken well, but that is a point where I had to search into my accounting knowledge and say ‘What is right here’? ” she says.
The experience which saw her leave the office at 5am and go back to work at 7am the next day, was a turning point for her.
“That’s when I thought ‘If something happened to me, I would be easily replaced at work. But what about my family’? I have young kids. I need to balance work and family. These are the people who will be hurt the most if I’m gone. I learnt I must also look after myself,” she says.
The power of mentorship
Although her colleagues found her leadership style jarring at first, Marie has found it effective in building the capacity of her team members. Over time, she has taken a more hands-off approach, finding immense joy in mentoring her team members.
“That really helps to give you some kind of compass on where you’re going. It also helps you map out where you want to go. If I’m not around tomorrow, you need to be able to stand up and present your report to the board. When I left, one of the guys on my team eventually became the CFO, and he thanked me for the time that I took to train him,” she explains.
Marie encourages early career professionals to take the initiative to develop a 360 view of the business and avoid falling into a comfort zone.
“When I was at Shell, I was looking to get a job in another department. I was working in the treasury department and the jobs weren’t coming through. Of course, there was the impact of race as well at the time. At some point, I was the only black person in the organisation. But I was persistent in knocking on those doors. I had a discussion with my manager, told her I was doing ACCA and needed to get work experience in different areas of finance and accounting. And she was good to me. She allowed me to work two days a week in various departments and shadow other managers so that I could learn,” she says.
When she joined Baylor College of Medicine Children's Foundation, the audit process had been left hanging, and the team was piloting a new system. But now, the team’s reporting is back on track. For three years running, Baylor has been the first runner up at ICPAU’s FiRe Awards in the NGO sector. Marie hopes to take the ultimate prize this year.
“The fact that we have got those awards has given us confidence that we are on the right track. This gives me joy because I know our accounts look right. I’ve been heavily involved with the annual report to link the programme outputs to the financial input i.e. what value has been derived from the donor dollar received and its impact on the lives of the people we serve,” she says.
Marie acknowledges that the recent US presidential directives to review foreign assistance have impacted Baylor Foundation Uganda, which receives 80 percent of its funding from US government agencies. She recommends realigning strategies to achieve sustainability beyond donor funding.
“When I joined Baylor, one of my targets was to raise its reserves to ensure sustainability and continued service delivery at our Centre of Excellence in the event that donor dollars dried up. Over the last four years, I have built this reserve from U$200,000 to over U$2.5m currently, monies that are now being used to bridge the funding gap and build internal capacity. However, there is still more work to do, as this is only four percent of BFU’s annual budget. But we are thinking outside the box now,” she says.
Unplugging and recharging
Marie’s thoughtful leadership style mirrors her role as a caregiver to her ageing father, who suffers from multiple health conditions.
“It has been a blessing to look after my dad. I appreciate that my children have their grandfather around. I always tell them to spend time with him and listen to his stories. One day, those stories will be all you have,” she says.
Marie says the key to balance and self-renewal is switching off completely. She finds time spent with her close-knit group of friends – many of whom are successful professionals themselves – restorative. Although her attention span is not what it was before, she often listens to audio-books on the go. Marie also spends time in community and church work. She is the sitting president of the alumni association at her alma mater – Trinity College Nabbingo – one of the prominent traditional schools in Uganda.
“My friends believe I have more than 24 hours in a day, but I thank God who gives me the strength to do the things that I do on a daily basis. When I go on leave, I leave. Sometimes I go to the village and pretend I’m in Barbados. I spend time on the farm, with my kids, just doing my own things. I’ve always thought beyond the job. How can I create wealth, how can I impact lives, what can I do on the side? That’s where my curiosity tends to lead me. I have 10 children in my primary care – three biological. Raising one teenager is hard enough in this day and age but having six of those around you is enough to drive any sane person mad,” she says.
