Bridging private and public sector careers

Foreign policy has long been a field considered to be predominantly state-centric with governance and international legal frameworks being established by sovereign states and their respective governments. However, with the emergence of globalisation, trade liberalisation, privatisation of market economies as well as expansion of cross-border business operations of multinational corporations; the private sector has attained conspicuous influence over global governance, foreign policy and international legal frameworks which can – and should no longer be ignored. Hence, there is an indisputable need to deviate from this distinct traditional separation of public sector and private sector agendas and instead work towards greater alignment between these sectors - bridging these two shores of any economy, to put it emphatically. This calls for a unique skill set of professionals in both fields, with competence to cope with dynamics of one another and to engage with a variety of stakeholders from both spheres. This is a skill set I have had the opportunity to develop during my career so far.

The question of whether to pursue a career in the private or public sector domain emerges as early as in graduate school with the distinction being particularly prevalent in legal academia. This question then spans further into considerations of ’lucrative’ aspects of a career field. Whilst these considerations are important, I rather wish to emphasise prioritising a field of work instead of placing extensive focus on which sector to pursue that in. Especially with the contemporary change in dynamics of foreign policy and global governance as outlined at the outset, a career transition from private to public, and vice versa, is attainable and can be rewarding. A blend of private and public sector experience may in fact place you at an advantage and can enhance your performance particularly by incorporating knowledge and expertise obtained whilst working ‘on the other side’ to help your organisation bring about transformation required to operate more efficiently and innovatively.

I started my career early on as a wealth management professional in the private sector, in Germany and the UK. Later on, I joined the public sector and worked with various organizations within the UN Secretariat such as the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, whilst switching public and private sector domains in-between. This career transition between the public and private sector not only enabled me to diversify my professional profile but also equipped me with relevant skills which I can strategically incorporate in my present work with the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI). UNEP FI is a partnership between UNEP and the global financial sector and our mandate focuses on mobilising private sector finance for sustainable development which spans across a variety of work streams. The importance of greater alignment between private and public sector domains becomes visible through our work which has yielded into a number of collective commitments for example, the Principles for Responsible Banking established in 2019. Recently our Banking Team also launched a Guidance on Gender Equality Target Setting for banks in collaboration with signatory members of the Principles for Responsible Banking. This again underlines the significant role played by private sector actors in implementing and supporting the various Sustainable Development Goals and international policy agendas.

Coming back to the main point, this contemporary shift and the aspiration to create greater alignment between these two sectors, even more so requires professionals who are able to cope with both work environments and respective dynamics. I have hence not placed too much emphasis on the question of which sector I wish to pursue a career in, but rather what field of work I enjoy most which ideally combines a blend of legalese, project management, finance and engaging with stakeholders, and I have had the opportunity to work in related capacities in both sectors.

(Views expressed are my own.)

Laxmi Aeshwarya Kumar has a professional and academic background in banking as well as law and has worked in a variety of non-governmental, private and public sector capacities. She is presently working in the field of sustainable finance, focusing on respective legal frameworks.