External contributor / Andrea Gallant

Andrea has over 14 years of experience in the NHS as a senior finance manager and previous finance experience within manufacturing and retail within the private sector. She is a recently qualified CIMA accountant and a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA). 

Andrea previously undertook the HFMA mentee training and was supported for a two year period by her course-matched mentor to re-focus her career and to recommence her partially completed finance qualification. This support led to full qualification and membership to CIMA as a direct consequence of the motivation and confidence received from her monthly coaching sessions. Andrea would now like to share her experiences and support others who may also feel trapped or unable to progress to the next level in either their studies or their professional development.  Her work with NHS Finance Skills Development (FSD) has given her in depth understanding of the skills and knowledge required by finance professionals and tools for developing effective and sustainable learning. 

Andrea is a newly qualified mentor. She completed her mentor training with HFMA in 2016 and regularly attends mentoring skills training to further enhance her coaching and mentoring skill repertoire. Andrea’s style is down to earth, practical and persuasive. She is naturally reflective and uses this as a strength in a mentoring situation, helping mentees to think through what would work best for them. Andrea has a wealth of experience within the private sector and also provider and commissioning NHS organisations. She has demonstrated perseverance with her studies and subsequent career progression and has learned more from her mistakes than her successes and is happy to share those experiences where appropriate.  

Examples of mentoring projects include support for an accounting technician looking for their next role and helping a finance professional to develop a deeper understanding of commissioning organisations before moving from a provider to commissioning organisation.