Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action News - May 2021

16 AVA | May 2021
PROFILE |
Getting to know those who work hard in
your Third Sector Interface
Who are you?
Fiona Smith
What is your job (in addition to
AVA Board Member)?
I’m a founding director of
Delfinity, a management
consultancy, which advises
businesses and not-for-profit
organisations facing significant
change. I lead our work on strategy and business
growth.
How did you end up working with AVA?
I worked as interim CEO of AVA for 3 months in early
2019, which gave me a good knowledge of the
organisation. I was impressed both by AVA’s passion
to support the third sector across the Shire, and the
great work undertaken every day by our members.
After I’d stepped down as interim CEO, I was
approached to join the board and am delighted to
continue to support AVA’s development.
What does a typical day look like?
There’s no such thing! I can be visiting clients
anywhere in Scotland; for example in the last 2
weeks I’ve been to the islands of Luing and Jura. Or
I can be working from home in Tarves. I’m lucky in
that I have great flexibility in how I organise my time,
meaning that I can get outside into the garden if it’s
suddenly great weather and then catch up on work
later - client meetings allowing. I’ve also got a few
volunteer commitments, which I can fit in.
Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action is a
charitable company limited by guarantee.
Company number: SC137343.
Scottish Charity Number: SC014223
Registered office: 57 Station Road, Ellon,
Aberdeenshire AB41 9AR
Tel: 03718 110008
Email: enquiries@avashire.org.uk
Website: www.avashire.org.uk
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How has Covid-19 affected your job?
Covid has accelerated changes that were
already underway in society and business, which
has increased demand for the work that I do. As
I already worked mainly from home, there’s not
been a huge impact personally. The positive has
been the wholesale switch to online and remote
working; it’s now acceptable and accepted to
have video meetings, which saves me a lot of
travel time. However, there are projects where it
is vital to see a site or location or to meet face-toface,
particularly when sensitive or complex issues
have to be discussed. So some pieces of work were
delayed until protocols were better developed and
understood.
www.avashire.org.uk