Sarita and Jinita

Sarita has recentlly been awarded a Masters of Financial Planning from Deakin University. Following her recent return to Fiji, Sarita plans to become involved in financial literacy and inclusion policy-making efforts that alleviate poverty and improve the livelihood of Fijians.

For over a decade, Sarita has worked in financial roles in Fiji. This includes as a business advisory clerk and as an assistant auditor at the Office of the Auditor General Fiji.

In 2016, following Cyclone Winston, Sarita volunteered to help deliver distribution packs to families affected by the cyclone. Through this experience, she realised the importance of financial planning and financial literacy at the community level. Many rural communities affected by the cyclone did not have the savings to support themselves, following the loss of their income streams and their personal possessions. Sarita was inspired by this situation to apply for her current master's degree so that she could help such communities negate unforeseen circumstances and plan for better retirements.

Sarita comes from a background that stressed the importance of being self-sustainable. She would like to support others in Fiji and the Pacific with the financial planning skills and awareness to adopt this same approach. This includes supporting women to plan their finances to improve their lives.

Over the coming years, Sarita intends to take a leadership role to affect change in this area and to improve the quality of living of Fijians.

Jinita currently heads a regional business advisory firm, PLN Advisory Pty Ltd, based out of Sydney, Australia. Jinita is a high-performing executive who operates on a regional platform that specialises in facilitation of transactions across the Pacific. She has strong technical and business skills with more than 15 years of experience in the capital markets and the financial sector. She serves on the Australia-Fiji and the Australia-Pacific Islands Business Council Executive Committees.

Prior to her role at PLN, Jinita was the CEO of the South Pacific Stock Exchange based in Fiji and she played a critical part in developing Fiji's capital markets. During her time in Fiji, she also served as the vice president for Women in Business and as an executive for the Suva Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Jinita holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting and Financial Management from the University of the South Pacific (USP) and a graduate diploma from the Financial Services Institute of Australasia in Applied Finance and Investment. She has served as president of the Rotary Club of Suva North and a co-facilitator for the MBA Finance Class at USP. Jinita represented Fiji in the Emerging Pacific Leaders Dialogue 2010 and Pacific Women's Dialogue 2011.

Jinita is passionate about women's economic empowerment, financial literacy and development of the small and medium-sized enterprise sector in the Pacific.