Linda Christopher

Family is a big part of my success. But beyond that, I attribute it to listening to my inner self and really thinking deeply about who I'm out in this career for and the people that I serve. I didn't just choose to be in global development because I wanted to be a big name in global policy. I'm driven by the communities and people who have influenced me into wanting to be in the global space in the first place. I've experienced fragility and conflict, and I still remember the persons that were with me during the Boko Haram crisis in 2012. Realizing that for us to have a better world, their voices need to be represented in one way or the other, and if I've been able to make it this far, then I shouldn't ignore those voices. This is one of the things that has kept me going all this while.

I've leveraged the wisdom of mentors at every point in my life, and there's a saying that has guided me: when you step on the shoulders of those who have gone before you, you see farther. This principle of learning from those who came before me has been instrumental in getting to where I am today.

The biggest advice I would give is not to feel intimidated or go with the mindset that this is a male industry. I feel like that's how it starts from the very onset, when people feel like, oh, this is a heavy engineering sector, and it's mostly for men. Don't see it from that perspective. Think of it from the angle of there is something I can contribute, regardless of whether I'm a woman or not. Go with the ideology that you have a space within this industry from the very get-go, and before you know it, you begin to see angles where you could work. The more I dive deeper into construction, manufacturing, and natural resource development companies, I realize that there are multiple positions that women can fill in ESG, corporate social responsibility, or heavily leaning into investment analysis and finance.

Empathy is a big value for me. As much as I deal with numbers a lot, I've trained myself to question the stories behind the numbers and to see the stories behind the numbers. That is where the empathy comes in. I'm also big on dignity. Beyond these core values, I'm a strong believer in a multicultural world and promoting a space whereby people from different parts of the world can still coexist in their differences. This belief extends to my volunteer work supporting events and causes that involve art and culture.