If you finish the workday happy it has a huge positive impact on your personal life! Jo McDonnell, Independent Consultant

Jo lives with her partner in Johannesburg in South Africa, but she grew up in Cornwall on a farm and experienced a very outdoor type of childhood. 

Jo found comprehensive school nurtured her to achieve better things in the future. She enjoyed maths and the sciences, in particular biology and chemistry where her teachers inspired her love of the subjects through their enthusiasm. 

Jo went on to study for a BA (Hons) in Natural Science natural science at Cambridge University, something she never thought she would do. But with the encouragement of her teachers she did so! 

University offered Jo lots of sporting, social and academic opportunities which brought her out of her shell. She had enjoyed playing rugby at college where she was captain of the team, and her love of the sport went on throughout university.  

After graduating, Jo didn’t feel ready to move into the world of work, so she moved to Lancaster to do a masters in the science of the environment, before starting work for Black & Veatch doing Environmental Impact Assessments. She did this for two years before moving to PwC to do environmental assessment work. 

With a passion for travel, Jo moved to Cape Town via a secondment with PwC working on the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) Africa. From here, she moved to Johannesburg on a short-term project as an independent consultant. This role has spiralled to become seven years and counting and has taken her to the UK and South America. 

Jo now lives in Johannesburg working in sustainable finance and social and economic development for Adam Smith International and operating on a programme to seek water infrastructure into the area. She finds working as young, white woman is often difficult and needs political manoeuvres to find her way through the barriers to success!