Natalea (Nat) Scott

I attribute my success to having amazing Supervisors and Directors who believe that I can do the job. I landed in this role specifically because someone left, and I asked if I could do it. The organization trusted me enough and told me to just apply for it, and I got it. So I think having managers who believe in you and give you opportunities really helps. I also have to credit myself for even asking for the role in the first place.

The best career advice I've ever received came from a manager I had before my current field, when I worked in retail. He would write inspirational quotes on a break sheet every single day, and one of my favorites that I live by is: life is not a destination, it's a journey. This can be applied anywhere, whether professionally or personally. Basically, you're not going to get stuck. Don't get stuck. Where you are is not where your final destination is going to be. This is a journey, so my career is a journey. I started as a travel agent, then went into accounting, and then became this banking person, this financial administrator in banking. I didn't let where I was get me stuck there, and I am taking my career as a journey. Right now I'm in grad school, so who knows where I may end up in the next two to three years. That quote really stuck with me: life is a journey, not a destination.

I would say to trust yourself and speak up. Use your voice. I work with a lot of amazing women who are in wonderful leadership roles. My CEO currently, Leslie Mancuso, has been with our company for 30 years and she's about to retire. She is excellent. I'm someone who is constantly hit with imposter syndrome, wondering am I supposed to be here, or am I in the right place, is this for me? I went into my CEO's office one day just to have a quick chat with her, and I asked her how she got this far. She said she got this far because she has a big mouth. She's always spoken up. She has a big mouth and she's not afraid to admit it. Having a big mouth has helped her lead an organization, an international nonprofit, for over 30 years, and she's done an incredible job. So that's something I would say: speak up, use your voice.

Right now in my industry, we are facing challenges from the government and the new administration that has come in. Because my work is in international projects with a non-governmental organization, there was a big shutdown with USAID, and a lot of our projects and funding didn't stop necessarily, but was redirected to the State Department. We're not receiving as much funding, and because of that, our organization had to pivot. Since I maintain the international bank accounts, and we're trying to figure out whether we're keeping offices open, whether we still need to maintain bank accounts, if we're closing offices. It's balancing itself out though, because although we may have closed an account somewhere, we're also expanding. We have multiple new countries that we're opening accounts in and have projects that have received funding in. It's kind of like a push and pull. Although I'm closing accounts, I'm also opening bank accounts as well.

Integrity is the most important value to me, and of course, because I work in finance, Ethics. Ethics, is the main thing you want to have, but you also want to have integrity. If you make a mistake, don't be afraid to say, oh, you know, I apologize. If there is something that isn't right, be sure to speak up and call it out, because this is your career at the end of the day. I'm very black and white when it comes to Treasury. There are rules that have to be followed. There are regulations that have to be followed. This is finance at the end of the day. This is our donors and our investors' money, our stakeholders' money. So you just want to make sure that you're very honest and you're truthful. If the numbers aren't aligning, you have to say that. So it's good to have integrity in this industry.