Meet our alumni

Kwesi Marshall

Financial Controller
Caribbean Examinations Council

Describe your career journey since leaving PwC and how you came to work at the Caribbean Examinations Council?

I left PwC in February 2012 to take up the position of Chief Financial Officer at J&T Bank and Trust Inc., one of the premier offshore banks in the sector, facing a period of transition.

I had almost ten years at PwC and it represented a perfect situation for someone who up to that point had been a career Auditor. Though I worked on diverse engagements, my clients were primarily in financial services so J&T afforded me the opportunity to put much of that into executive management.

I spent exactly seven years at J&T, leaving in February 2019 but not before aiding in re-establishing the bank’s profile. That was not without the proverbial blood, sweat and tears.

I come from a family very involved in public service. More to the point, my Father had been a Chief Examiner for CXC’s CSEC and CAPE History for a number of years so I already had a very positive view of CXC and the role it plays in developing the human resources of the Caribbean.

The Financial Controller role to me represented the perfect opportunity to serve a greater cause and utilise my skills and experience.

I joined March 2019 and while it has been an eventful almost two years, our focus on the evolution of the people of the region has remained. 

How would you describe your time at PwC?

Life changing! I say that without exaggeration. I have been very lucky to have been positively influenced in my formative years and young adulthood by a number of institutions; family, church and school. I have to count PwC among those.

I remember going there as a bright eyed, bushy tailed summer student in 2001. It was outside of busy season so many of the staff were in the office. They weren’t more than 3 – 6 years my senior but what left a huge impression was how sophisticated and worldly they all seemed.

Much of it was the quality of staff which PwC hired but it was also due to the training and exposure you gained there.

I got the chance to go out on a number of engagements in that six week stint, including a special project for the merger between Barclays and CIBC to form FirstCaribbean. The tasks I was assigned often simply required rudimentary excel or filing skills but I was excited at what was my first glimpse into the world of ‘Big Business.’

I went back to University for my final year with a renewed focus and no doubt in my mind as to what I wanted to do and where I wanted to do it.

No experience of any real length is going to be without trials of some kind but overall my experience as a full time employee exceeded my expectations from both a professional and personal perspective.

I worked on internationally recognised, industry leading clients, regional giants and other public interest entities. We’re talking about companies whose performance would dominate local, regional and international news, a clear indication that the work you were performing mattered.

Additionally, as a lifelong cricket fan I fully appreciated working on the Audit of our local cricket association. I felt a similar thrill performing special audits of our calypso and soca competitions for our local cultural agency. An unforgettable experience was the annual audit of one of the private islands off the Grenadines.

The diversity of my client portfolio made it all the more interesting. It also honed an ability to adapt to different businesses and circumstances.

The social scene at PwC was vibrant. It was a youthful culture with the annual influx of University graduates but definitely not an ageist one.

The ethos was very much a ‘work hard, play hard’ one and there was no shortage of firm organised events to encourage bonding between staff members.

Eighteen years later many of those people are still very much a part of my life. Workdays and nights and party weekends have given way to weddings, children and combined family events.

I ended up getting married to an amazing lady who for nine years was central to my PwC experience. We knew each other since College days but she waited until PwC to ‘run me down.’ She tells a different story, mine is the truth.

My wife aside, on any given day I hear no less than ten current or former staff members in some form or fashion, whether through social media, phone calls or face to face interaction.

I have been Best Man at three weddings involving Alumni, Godfather to eight children of Alumni, even encouraged my sister to intern there as a summer student. Add to that the fact that I can’t seem to be rid of Tonya Graham who has been a friend for 25 years. It is safe to say that PwC has had a significant impact on my life.

What has been your biggest career challenge, especially now given the impact of COVID-19 on business and the community?

We are living in historically significant times. Our attention is on delivering our services in the most efficient manner and one reflective of the technologically advanced world in which we are living and will live. With COVID-19, the added task is to ensure that we deliver while safeguarding our internal and external stakeholders.

I would count my time at J&T as also being a noteworthy experience to date. There were the challenges which every business faces, keeping expenses down while still attempting to grow revenue, or at the very least, keep it constant. But there were also the geopolitical and macro-economic factors. For example, the implementation of FATCA as well as the policy of ‘de-risking’ by the Correspondent Banks were among the issues which often made no two days alike. In some cases there were not text book scenarios, nor ones in which previous experience might have helped prepare.

The team there gave every effort to ensure that we mitigated those unanticipated challenges and to put pre-emptive measures in place for the others we foresaw.

Additionally, staff were encouraged to participate in activities in the sector. To that end, a number of us worked on committees within the Barbados International Business Association (BIBA). In my case, I chaired the committee that hosted the BIBA Charity Fun Walk for four years and in the last year before leaving the sector, I chaired BIBA’s Marketing and Communications Committee. All very rewarding!

I am very proud of what we were able to accomplish over those years. We worked extremely hard and formed such strong working relationships that my then CEO expressed a genuine sadness over my intention to leave. He and I have since maintained the fraternal bond forged by that experience.

The business has had some modification to its principal activity but the character and spirit remain.

What is one piece of knowledge/advice you can share?

There are 7 billion people on the planet, each one knowing something you don’t. I think it is important that you operate with humility and a genuine thirst for knowledge. We do not individually know it all, community is important.

Given your extensive background in finance and current role, how are you navigating the changing finance function as it relates to digital transformation?

It’s challenging but represents an opportunity. The point I keep making is that finance’s role has to be far less passive, not participating only to report on historical positions but must take on a predictive role. Digital transformation presents the tools to enable this shift.

What is your personal definition of good leadership, and how do you try to implement it?

I actually don’t have one of those awe-inspiring quotes which is appropriate because I believe good leadership is often by example. It’s a genuine desire to effect change for the better and being at the forefront of that effort.

I try to do just that, roll up my sleeves and go “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.”

As a PwC Alum, what is the one thing you look to the PwC Alumni network for?

A couple of things; nostalgia, inspiration. It’s impossible to spend that length of time with people and not develop a bond. It’s nice to go to events and re-establish that. Also, success isn’t mutually exclusive so hearing how people are navigating professionally can be stirring.

What’s one thing you can’t put down or stop listening to at the moment?

Apart from Instagram? That thing is so addictive, you can keep current, stay in touch with friends and be entertained all in one!

In terms of listening, my music taste is so varied. I tell people I know Silence by Beethoven as well as I know it by Popcaan.

I love the easy listening rock ballads when I need to work so Journey, The Police, Wham and Genesis to name a few. Of course dancehall and soca in a party setting.

I bought my wife a starter DJ set some years ago when she expressed an interest. It remained unused for some time before long I was messing around with it, playing everything from EDM and tropical house to dancehall. Even had a couple of other Alumni coming by and trying their hand. Trying to convince them to start a crew. Will keep you posted on that one.

Thank you!