Volunteer Spotlight: Elli Safari

By Ambitious.Africa

What inspired you to join Ambitious.Africa? 

It was in a webinar arranged by Ambitious Africa in startup school of  Haaga-Helia UAS. that I got to know the organization. The way the webinar  was conducted and the topics that were presented inspired me, and after  some more research, I knew I wanted to be a part of AA. At first, I joined  the finance team, and a few months later I became mainly responsible for  the budgeting. Meanwhile, I participated in some other duties such as  grant writing, and in collaboration with Women’s Bank, we arranged the webinar on Financial Literacy, which was aimed to help young women  learn about financial management and wealth building.  

Why is Ambitious.Africa's vision/work important to you? 

I like the idea of Ambitious Africa, which is to bring people from different  areas of the world together to work together and learn from each other  and be part of the change we all would like to see. So, here we are, active  members of the societies trying to make a better and more sustainable future. 

In your role as Head of Budgeting, what were some of the challenges? 

Arranging meetings was one of our biggest challenges! Firstly, because finding suitable times for all participants was not easy, considering that we  were working from different countries with different time zones. Although with the friendly and flexible attitude of members we were always able to  overcome this problem. Secondly, the strong internet connection is not  necessarily available everywhere, and this occasionally made things very  hard for us.  

Key Learnings: 

During this time, I have gained a great hands-on experience in finance in an international organization. I have been able to work with real data and  carry out tasks related to both internal and external accounting, and I have also got to know many different professional tools and softwares. Another  important learning for me was that I became familiar with Finnish laws and regulations, particularly those related to nonprofit organizations. 

What experience(s) were most memorable? 

Collaboration with many amazing people from different countries and  learning from them have been some of my most memorable experiences. Moreover, during this time I got a better picture about the real Africa, the  African’s cultures and the whole potential existing in this continent - especially the educated and talented young people, a picture that is much  bigger and brighter than what is portrayed in the media. On a more  personal level, I am very happy that I have been able to expand my own network as well. These are probably my most important takeaways so far from working in Ambitious Africa.


Elli Safari is currently the Head of Budgeting at Ambitious.Africa.

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