We’re very excited to announce that our VP of Finance, Louise Walker, has been selected to become a Women’s FD mentor. Working with Goal17 and Smith and Williamson, Louise will be supporting Women’s FD Network Mentoring Programme to share her experience with a group of mentees set to be inducted in early November. The event is a great opportunity for mentors to raise up female talent in the sector and support fellow women in progressing their careers.
After initially joining Zego in late 2019 with a contractual position, Louise decided to take the opportunity of becoming a permanent Zegon when it was offered to her as interim CFO before becoming VP of Finance.
Louise began her career as a Trainee Accountant with a Swiss life insurer after she finished her A-Levels. While completing her exams she worked her way up and qualified into a management accountant position which she worked in for a number of years. Louise’s first Finance Director role came when she was promoted during her time at Arthur J Gallagher and saw her become responsible for their wholesale insurance arm. She was also FD of various functions at Ardonagh Group for some time, where at one point she managed a team in excess of 60 people.
Louise considers the opportunity to help in someone else's transformational journey to be incredibly rewarding and although she has not been a mentor through an official program like this one, she has helped people navigate their journeys in the past and who have gone on to be successful in their fields.
Having attended the launch event on the 12th of October, Louise had the opportunity to meet mentoring experts who took her through the schedule of the programme to get her set up. She has expressed her excitement in getting started and considers the programme a fantastic initiative in empowering fellow women in the finance industry.
She stated, “I believe that mentoring is an incredibly powerful way to shift the dial for equality. Passing some of my wisdom, knowledge and experience to up and coming ladies in the finance world can definitely help assist them with their career decisions. You can’t learn everything you need in life from textbooks or from the internet!”
We wish her all the best for her mentorship journey!