Behind the Impact: Selina, Portfolio Analyst - Impact Investment

Can you tell us a little bit about your role on the team and what your day-to-day responsibilities entail?

My day starts with a ferry ride into the city, followed by a cup of green tea at the office as I go through emails and get ready for the day. Since October 2025 I’ve been the Portfolio Analyst in our Impact Investments team, which means my work covers everything from being the first point of contact for early leads, to analysing financial statements and preparing for our Investment Committee meeting, to setting up new loans, managing our loan platform, and supporting our broader business and portfolio reporting. Sometimes it's financial analysis, sometimes reporting, sometimes conversations with organisations doing incredible work. What I love most is the variety: one day I might be speaking with someone creating meaningful change in the disability space, and the next with someone driving impact in education. It’s inspiring to help these organisations move from where they are now to where they want to be next so they can keep delivering the impact that matters.

What's your go-to productivity hack when you need to power through a big project or deadline?

My go‑to productivity hack is to take a long to‑do list and sort it into a simple four‑cell grid: importance on one axis and urgency on the other. When a big deadline is approaching, I focus first on the top‑right tasks, those that are both urgent and high importance. Re‑prioritising my list this way gives me clarity and helps me move through the work in a more structured way.

If you could switch jobs with anyone on the team for a day, who would it be and why?

I think I’d switch with our CEO, Hanna. She’s right at the frontline of everything happening in the impact space and gets to see all the incredible work happening across our team and the organisations we partner with. She’s constantly connecting dots, spotting opportunities, and experiencing the big-picture view of impact in action. That said, if I did swap with her, I’m pretty sure I’d be very happy to hand the role back at the end of the day and return to my much calmer agenda! Another role I’d love to experience for a day is in our Impact and Advisory team, especially working on the Backing the Bold fund. It would be amazing to see the fruits of Sefa’s capability‑building work up close and watching ILOs develop over time and seeing the shift in an organisation’s maturity before and after that support. I imagine having that close relationship and front‑row view of their growth would be incredibly rewarding.

What's the most interesting thing you've learned or accomplished in your role so far?

One of the most interesting things I’ve learned in my role is how much you discover when you get a behind‑the‑scenes look at so many different organisations. I get to dive into businesses from every angle, legal, operational, financial, and impact and it’s interesting to see how each one approaches challenges and makes decisions. But just as interesting is getting to meet the people behind these organisations. Everyone has their own story, leadership style, and way of creating impact, and seeing that diversity up close has taught me a lot already. It’s a unique perspective you don’t always get from working within a single organisation.

What motivated you to pursue a career in this field, and how did you get started in your current role?

I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do after graduating from university, I enjoyed finance and accounting, but I was looking for a way to apply those skills in a context with a clearer purpose. During my master’s in Accounting & Financial Management, I went to a “Women in Finance” event where one of the speakers was an impact investor. Hearing her talk was a real lightbulb moment for me and I remember thinking, “This is exactly what I want to do” - finally, finance that makes money move for a good purpose.

When I first moved to Australia, I met Hanna and stayed in touch. A little while later, an opportunity came up at Sefa and I reached out to her, hoping to start my journey in the impact space. Before Sefa, I was working in sustainability consulting at Environmental Resources Management (ERM), meaningful work, but I realised I wanted to be even closer to the organisations creating impact. Joining Sefa felt like the perfect fit: a way to combine financial work with real-world purpose and to work directly with the people driving change.

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing your team or industry right now?

One of the biggest challenges in the sector right now is the growing cost pressure on social enterprises and NFPs. Many of these organisations already operate with tight budgets, so rising operating costs can hit them particularly hard. At the same time, higher interest rates have made borrowing more expensive, which can limit their ability to access capital. It’s a tough combination, but it also pushes us to think creatively about how we structure support and offer solutions that genuinely meet organisations where they are.

What do you enjoy most about your job, and what advice would you give to someone who is interested in pursuing a similar career path?

Meeting passionate people who are genuinely trying to make life better for others. It’s inspiring to see the dedication, creativity and heart that social enterprises and NFPs bring to their work. Being able to support their hard work by providing the capital that helps them reach even more people is incredibly rewarding.

For anyone interested in pursuing a similar career path, my biggest piece of advice is simply: go for it. Working in impact gives you a sense of purpose and provides you with so many new perspectives. Take some time to explore the organisations out there, because there are so many different players, roles, and angles within the sector. Think about what kind of impact you want to have and which environment aligns best with your values and strengths.