There was a time when I believed that if I really wanted to make a difference, I needed to change the world I was working in.
I had spent years in a lucrative sector. I was comfortable with the pace, the expectations and, if I'm honest, the rewards that came with it.
Then I made a decision that, at the time, felt quite significant.
I took a substantial pay cut and moved into philanthropy.
It wasn't a decision I made lightly.
There was something deeply appealing about doing work that felt connected to a cause. I wanted to know that what I was doing had a purpose beyond the next target, the next quarter or the next commercial objective.
And there was a part of me that believed I was making a choice between two things: financial success or meaningful impact.
So I chose impact.
What I discovered, however, was that philanthropy isn't some magical place where commercial realities disappear. There are still budgets to manage, targets to meet, relationships to build, strategies to develop and outcomes to deliver.
A good cause still needs good business thinking.
Money still needs to be raised. Donors still need to be engaged. Boards still need results. And ultimately, the people and communities you are trying to serve deserve organisations that are well run and accountable.
In many ways, that was an important bridge between the two worlds for me.
The realization
The more experience I gained, the more I began to question the assumption behind my decision.
Why had I believed that doing good required me to leave one sector and enter another?
Why had I assumed that purpose lived in one particular part of the working world?
I began to realise that impact isn't necessarily determined by the sector you work in. It is determined, at least in part, by what you choose to do with the position you have.
A person working in a bank can influence how their organisation engages with communities.
A marketer can use their skills to tell stories that matter.
A leader can create opportunities for people who might otherwise be overlooked.
A company can choose to use its resources differently.
You don't necessarily have to leave the room to make the room different.
Purpose can travel with you
I think this is something I see increasingly in younger generations entering the workplace. There seems to be a growing understanding that making a difference doesn't always require a grand gesture or a complete reinvention of your career.
It can be in the choices you make every day.
The company you choose to work for.
The people you choose to champion.
The way you lead.
The causes you support.
The skills you use.
The standards you refuse to compromise.
Perhaps that is a more sustainable way of thinking about purpose.
We don't all need to make dramatic changes to prove that we care.
Sometimes impact is much quieter than that.
And perhaps, in a world where we can feel enormous pressure to have a perfectly purposeful career, there is something reassuring about knowing that you can do good from wherever you are.
What I know now
I still value the years I spent in philanthropy enormously. They gave me experiences and relationships that have shaped who I am. But I no longer believe that doing meaningful work belongs exclusively to the nonprofit sector.
Purpose travels with us. Our values travel with us. The way we treat people travels with us. The decisions we make, the opportunities we create and the causes we choose to champion can travel with us too. I don't regret taking the pay cut. It was an important chapter in my life. But I also wouldn't make the same assumption I made then - that changing sectors is the price we have to pay for doing something worthwhile.
Perhaps we don't need to leave the corporate world to find purpose.
Perhaps we need more people who bring purpose into it.
And perhaps doing good isn't about finding the perfect place to make an impact.
It's about asking ourselves, wherever we happen to be:
What can I do from here?
Warmly,
Haya