Donna Avellana Künzler

My name is Donna Avellana Künzler. My journey has taken me to all sorts of fascinating places and into fields I could never have foreseen. It all started with PwC.

PwC will always have a special place in my heart. I have PwC to thank for a solid professional foundation, my global professional network, and good friends near and far. As Dr Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines, once said, ‘He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination.’ It’s one of my favourite quotes, and a reminder to remember your roots and the people who helped you along the way to get to where you are.

Now I should tell you a little bit about where I’m at now and how I got here.

I’m currently taking a postgraduate diploma in strategy and innovation at the Säid Business School at the University of Oxford. This is because I would like to go deep into the areas of strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship. I have also just published my first book: a nonfiction novel supporting my advocacy of empowering women.

Where did my journey start?

But my professional journey – and my history with PwC – started way back in 1998 when I joined PwC Manila in the Philippines right after university. At the time, the prescribed first job for people majoring in accountancy was to be an auditor with one of the top global accounting firms. That’s exactly what I did – but with the slight difference that instead of taking the classic path of financial audit, I joined the IT audit practice right from the start. I had other employers between 2000 and 2004, but in 2005 I rejoined PwC West Coast SAP Advisory in San Jose, California, before moving on to Risk Assurance London Top Tier in the UK in 2006, and finally to Risk Assurance Insurance in Zurich in 2010. I had quite a good run – about six years straight – and I think that was because I really felt the strength of PwC as a global firm, especially in SAP audit and advisory.

My last role, exactly ten years ago, was Manager in the Risk Assurance − Insurance practice in Zurich. Most of my career with PwC was with Risk Assurance, where I specialised in SAP ERP audit and advisory. While I was assigned to the insurance industry during my time in Switzerland, I had exposure to various industries and spent most of my time − the longest spell in the UK − in global audit leadership and coordination roles for one of PwC’s key clients in the oil and gas industry. I also served as one of the main trainers responsible for instructing PwC staff in SAP business processes.

Highlights along the way

In addition to this I was actively involved in the global SAP Subject Matter Experts group. My fondest memories will always be from that time. It had such a huge impact on me, as that was when I really connected with PwC colleagues around the world and felt how PwC truly values learning and consistency of quality, investing resources in so-called SAP lockdown sessions. This involved getting all PwC’s recognised global SAP experts together to produce high-quality audit programmes and training materials for global roll-out.

Time to move on

Despite the good experiences, at some point it was time to leave PwC. I was in a complicated personal situation at the time, and I was also longing to do something different from external audit. My coach was sad to see me go but understood my reasons for leaving.

After PwC, I spent a couple of years in internal IT audit. Then I moved on to master data management, before getting into process governance and standardisation as part of the finance shared services organisation. In between I also actively participated in special projects such as the implementation of SAP GRC and the performance of IT due diligence reviews for M&A projects.

What do I miss about PwC?

I do miss the energy of working in dynamic teams, the diversity of the people, the breadth of the network, and the firm’s investment in staff learning − both in technical and soft skills. What I definitely don’t miss is preparing time sheets and the so-called busy season related to channel 1 clients.

Keeping in touch with companions along the way

Through all this time I have maintained contact. PwC as a firm has mainly stayed in touch through the alumni network via emails and the LinkedIn groups. I also keep in touch – in different ways, but primarily via social media platforms − with former PwC colleagues from different countries who have remained good friends. Whenever I travel to countries where they’re located (the UK, the Philippines and the US) I do make a point of connecting and trying to meet up.

As I said at the start, it’s really important to remember your roots and the people who helped you along the way. In my case, that definitely includes PwC and the people I met there – at a very important stage in my journey.