An experienced finance professional and effective communicator with many years of leadership, budget development and accounting expertise, Esther M. Gwilly has excelled as an accountant with 2 G Companies, LLC since 2008. Likewise, she found success as the director of finance for Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries. In the latter position, what started as a soup kitchen that provided church services, shelter, food and clothing for the homeless has now become a larger organization that provides even more services, including substance abuse treatment, transitional and permanent housing, job preparation and educational courses.
Previously, Ms. Gwilly gained valuable expertise with Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries as an accounting manager. She further flourished as both a full charge bookkeeper and an assistant office manager with Unity Wholesale Company. As the director of finance, Ms. Gwilly plans organization-wide annual budgets alongside the chief executive officer, assists senior executives in creating strategic plans for the future, monitors the daily cash flow and bank accounts, prepares annual reports for the board of directors, and establishes and maintains relationships with vendors and contractors.
At the age of 10, Ms. Gwilly knew she wanted to work in accounting. Both of her parents were nurses and they wanted her to become a doctor, but she always wanted to do accounting. In the early years of her career, Ms. Gwilly earned a Bachelor of Arts in accounting at Walsh College in Troy, Michigan. She subsequently graduated with a Master of Arts in economics from Wayne State University in Detroit. During her spare time, she volunteers with her church community.
For her outstanding work in the field, Ms. Gwilly was honored to become a national treasurer of the Federation of Lofa Associations in the Americas, from which she was recognized with an Award for Dedication to Work. Additionally, she accepted an Award for Excellence in Work Performance from the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries.
Ms. Gwilly has been thinking about early retirement and involving herself in an activity that will help people. She is from West Africa, and her work in America has taught her a lot about helping others in need. Being from an environment like she is from, she never noticed how bad the struggles of others were until she was given perspective and saw others in America with similar problems she has seen at home. She hopes to work in microfinancing and help give scholarships to prospective college students. Ms. Gwilly attributes her success to the commitment to work she does, as well as the hard work that she puts into it.
If Ms. Gwilly had any advice for those looking to pursue her field, she would say you have to love numbers and what you do. You can be successful in accounting if you love what you do, and she loved numbers and critical thinking. She never had any regrets working in accounting.