CAREER TALK WITH AINSLEY DONALD '98

In mid-December, the Grade 8 class was visited by Ainsley Donald, Class of 1998, who came to talk with us about her career. Ainsley has been a Chartered Professional Accountant for more than 15 years. She initially chose that path because her father was also an accountant. She realized at a young age that this job was the perfect job for her, too. Once Ainsley graduated from Asper School of Business at University of Manitoba in December 2003, she went off to pursue her dream job.

Ainsley got a job at Deloitte LLP accounting firm. After working 10 years, Ainsley understood that because of her area of specialty working with private companies, she would benefit from taking her career elsewhere. Ainsley left Deloitte and went to work at a local accounting firm for a short time. It wasn't until she took four months off work that she had time to think about her decision. Ainsley left the local firm and started to work at Grant Thornton LLP in September 2015 and still works there today.

She started teaching at the university level, teaching her first university class in 2016 at Asper School of Business. Ainsley is a board member at United Way of Winnipeg, Local Investment Toward Employment (LITE), and Deer Lodge Foundation, and she has volunteered for other charities including The YMCA-YWCA Women of Distinction Awards and The Winnipeg Foundation.

We are very grateful that Ainsley shared her story with us and wish her good luck for years to come!