Leading an institute is not an easy task, especially when it comes to channelling bridges for better qualification for members of the institute for the betterment of the country as a whole.
Pamela Naesol, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Institute of Solomon Islands Accountants (ISIA) shared her challenges in heading the institute, starting from scratch and building it to where it stands now.
ISIA held its two-day Annual Congress last week at the Heritage Park Hotel and for the first time ever presented awards for its qualified and hardworking members for their exceptional professionalism.
This wouldn’t have come to success without the hardworking woman behind the scenes, Pamela Naesol.
Mrs. Naesol had to give up her job at the Morris & Sojnocki Chartered Accountants and took up the CEO job in 2019, walking into an empty office with just one laptop and one staff. From there, her team had to build from scratch.
She shared that they had challenges including funding and lack of man power in the office.
“But for me, it was my passion that has driven me to this far. Because I saw the need to develop our country, Solomon Islands.
“We have been left out for too long and for the accounting profession, I can see that not enough opportunities come for our people.
“We are way behind compared to other Pacific nations. I attended some regional meetings and do some assessments and you can see that we are way behind,” Mrs. Naesol shared.
She added that for her, it’s about building the capacity of accountants; how she can give back to her fellow career professionals.
“Because when we give back to help the profession, we are helping Solomon Islands as a whole,” she said.
With her passion driving her and through her hard work, Mrs. Naesol was able to do some negotiations and bring in opportunities for accounting profession in the country.
“When I came on the job, my whole passion is about bringing in opportunities that we don’t have access to in the country, opportunities that can only be accessed overseas.
“This is to make sure our people can have access to trainings and resources that are expensive to travel to overseas for. These trainings help build accountants’ skills,” she said.
She added that during her time of Certified Practicing Accountants (CPA) studies, it was very difficult for her, financially.
Fortunately, she was sponsored by her boss, Wayne Morris. She is the first CPA from Morris & Sojnocki Chartered Accountants firm.
“If you don’t have that kind of boss that can sponsor you, it can be difficult because we don’t have anywhere we can sit our exams here in Solomon Islands. I had to travel overseas to sit for my exams. So Wayne Morris helped me with that.
“Therefore, when I came on this job, the first project I asked for its funding from Australian DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) was to open our test centre, to give access for accountants to sit their exams in country, rather than spending money to travel overseas for exams,” Mrs. Naesol shared.
Along with that, her team was able to design their own professional diploma program for ISIA to cater for those who have been in the workforce for a long time but does not have qualifications.
This followed a survey that was conducted which shows that most accountants in the country are certificate and diploma holders but has no time to further their studies in degree levels.
Therefore, instead of travelling overseas to do this study, ISIA brought it to them in-country. They developed this professional diploma, partnering with Australia and deliver the program online.
“We are now in the third cohort of the training with over 100 accountants already graduated from the training. Now we are also looking at other higher level of trainings to create pathways for the people to move upward to eventually get the qualifications which is equivalent to their degree level without travelling overseas for it,” Mrs. Naesol said.
All these was possible through Mrs. Naesol’s passion to see Solomon Islands develop and grow.
“Therefore, whatever challenges we face, that’s what always keeps us going.
“We have a very small team of four people in the office but we are trying to do what we can to give back to our country, Solomon Islands,” Mrs. Naesol said.
By AGNES MENANOPO
Solomon Star, Honiara
