I worked on ... providing safe, clean and affordable lighting in Zambia.

My career in business had always been challenging and fulfilling, but it was a holiday in Tibet that opened my eyes to an exciting opportunity in a completely new area.

On my trip I visited an orphanage where I met a finance professional. The work he was doing to manage the orphanage's funds and coach its operations director was securing the futures of the children in its care. This sparked something inside me. As I returned to the UK, where I worked as group planning and investment manager for the John Lewis Partnership, I started to consider whether I could do something similar with my skills.

By this point I could draw on a wealth of experience gained in a wide variety of industries. Armed with a degree in chemical engineering from Imperial College, London, I had started out in the finance and performance management team at Deloitte Consulting. I completed my CIMA qualification there, working with clients including the BBC, Roche Pharmaceuticals, Siemens and Transport for London. I left to become a commercial manager in Telewest's regulatory and commercial finance team, joining the group strategy department after its merger with NTL to form Virgin Media. I later decided on a move into retail, which ultimately led me to John Lewis.

After Tibet, I made enquiries with Voluntary Service Overseas, but I felt that the placements it was offering were generic business roles that wouldn't be challenging enough for me. A former colleague suggested that I get in touch with Accounting for International Development (MID), because she had volunteered successfully with the organisation in Tanzania in 2012. Sure enough, MID quickly found me an exciting role with UK charity SolarAid on its Sunny Money project in Zambia.

Sunny Money is a social enterprise that enables people to access clean, safe and affordable solar-powered lighting. Its ultimate aim is to eliminate the use of dirty and dangerous kerosene lamps. The business sells solar lights wholesale to local retailers and directly to the public via its offices and school outreach programme. All profits are reinvested.

I volunteered for Sunny Money in A Lusaka for four months last year in a job akin to that of a...

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