6 months after On Purpose: where are they now? With Meghan Hughes-Hallett

Can you tell us about your background and your career prior to On Purpose?

I started my first job at KPMG when I was 18 and ended up working in audit for 7 years. It was a brilliant first career experience which also gave me the opportunity to move to France.

However, I increasingly felt that I wanted a role that would allow me to travel and focus on more purpose driven missions. I therefore started a job with advisory firm BDO where the majority of my clients were United Nations entities. As part of my role, I got to go on a few very cool trips and had some great life experiences, including running 10km with 45,000 others in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia!

Unfortunately, the Covid-19 period hit pretty soon after I had started my new role. Like many people at the time, I was confined to my bedroom and realised that many aspects that had really appealed to me about the job - like being on the ground in respective countries, seeing the impact of the organisation’s work - had disappeared. I went back to KPMG in their Value Creation team (the department was subsequently carved out of KPMG to become Interpath), where I worked with companies facing challenges as a result of the pandemic. I really enjoyed this work but for personal reasons, I felt I needed a break, and I continued to have this nagging feeling that I wanted to explore learning about and working in the impact sector.

Why did you join the On Purpose Associate Programme?

I first discovered On Purpose while looking for B Corp jobs over 5 years before applying and realised that the Head of Finance & Operations at B Corp at the time was an On Purpose Fellow. I started to research the Associate Programme and was intrigued. Time went by but I kept On Purpose on my radar.

When I decided to apply, it felt like the right time for me. I felt like I was at a crossroads where I needed to either really invest in progressing in that career path, or I needed to give myself the opportunity to “scratch the itch”. Interpath supported me with the decision to take some out, so I knew it was time to trust my gut and try something new!

It's been six months since you completed the Associate Programme. What are you doing now?

I now work for 93% Club, my second placement while on the programme. It’s a charity that aims to give state-educated university students the same access to powerful connections, knowledge, and opportunities that have historically benefitted their privately-educated peers. As Chief Finance & Impact Officer of a fast-growing organisation on a mission, I lead on all things finance and impact and am responsible for building the infrastructure behind both functions.

Can you tell us more about your placements?

My first placement was at Sanitap, an organisation that provides innovative WASH and Clean Cooking solutions to vulnerable communities in Madagascar. Here I built financial models for Sanitap’s projects and ensured they would meet the requirements of the Gold Standard carbon credit accreditation.

My second placement was with 93% Club, a charity that aims to give state-educated university students the same access to powerful connections, knowledge, and opportunities that have historically benefitted their privately-educated peers. When I joined as an Associate, the team was quite small but growing quickly, so I helped out with a range of things to support this growth, from developing a pricing strategy, to producing impact reports, to building out the finance function.

What’s the most important thing you learnt during your year as an Associate?

One of the hardest learnings for me was realising that ‘I’m the problem’ - but in a good way! By getting exposed to two different placements and projects very different to what I had been involved with previously, I realised that I was facing a lot of the same challenges that I had in other organisations, so clearly the change had to come from within. Rather than the external environment enabling a change, I needed to take responsibility for having better boundaries, and being more proactive with identifying and communicating what I needed to thrive in those placements. The programme helped me invest in myself and helped me envisage different (better!) systems for myself and for society through weekly Friday trainings, and with the support of my coach and more.

What support did you get along the way?

My coach David Green was so supportive! We really were a great match. He challenged me to think about things I was uncomfortable with, in a very supportive, kind way.

The On Purpose team and the wider On Purpose community, including the Associate cohorts, were all incredible. The environment that is created while you're on the programme, really helps people be vulnerable with each other and support each other throughout the year.

How did you approach finding a job after the programme?

I was in conversation about staying on at my second placement, 93% Club, from quite early on. I was very much enjoying the work and not long into my placement, the team realised that they needed the role I was doing going forward, so it worked out really well.

What do you miss about your old career, and what don’t you miss?

I miss the people I used to work with, many of whom became good friends. I also sometimes miss being part of an organisation that has a lot of precedent and a lot of experienced people to lean on when I needed guidance or support. Conversely, I also really like the fact that I am the one finding the answers and setting up the structures that will become the precedent one day, and I am enjoying being in a team with different but very complementary skillsets.

What advice would you give to others in a similar situation?

If you’re weighing up whether to apply for the Associate Programme, I’d recommend reaching out to people who’ve gone through it. It can feel risky and like a big change, so talking to someone who has probably had similar thoughts and can share their experience, will help you figure out whether the programme is the right step for you.