Improving Lives in Emerging Markets

Growing up in 1980s Kenya, Diana Amoa witnessed firsthand the impact of macroeconomic policies and structural reforms on everyday lives—from people’s access to healthcare and education to clean water and drivable roads. This early exposure ignited a commitment to improving lives through strategic global investing, particularly in emerging economies.

Amoa’s experience—plus a passion for finance—prompted her to pursue a career in global investing focused on emerging economies. After university in Reading UK, she joined J.P. Morgan as a fund manager for three years until she attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Standard Chartered subsequently recruited her to help expand its African onshore trading business, part of a broader initiative to bring African talent back to the continent.

At Société Générale, she went on to play a pivotal role in developing the firm's Africa trading business, eventually expanding its reach to emerging markets like Romania, Turkey, and Russia. Her expertise later proved valuable at UBS, where she helped build the firm's Emerging Markets rates business.

A rewarding return

In 2015, Amoa returned to J.P. Morgan, first in London and later in New York, where she managed rates and FX strategies across pooled funds and segregated accounts. Her managers and colleagues taught her how to think holistically about her career.

“At J.P. Morgan, there’s always been an emphasis on your impact,” she says. “It’s understanding that your job isn’t just one dimension. Rather, it’s how you impact your colleagues, the firm, the culture, and communities. That’s really one of the biggest takeaways of my career, and it was really hammered in while I was at the firm.”

She’s taken this approach over the last few decades in each role she’s held, and it continues to serve as her guiding light.

Amoa also received specialized training for board roles while at the firm. “The training was 100% instrumental to polishing the skills that I needed to be effective on a board,” she says.

Creating impact through boards

Amoa now serves on the board of two non-profits—the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, which works to empower rural communities worldwide, and Global Nomads, a group that connects middle and high school students across the globe to each other through specialized classes and internships. She learned about the latter during her J.P. Morgan board training.

“Board work is a way for me to use my skill set to give back, and it forces me to keep up with what’s driving business, societies and communities,” she says. “It’s about the impact my work is having, what kind of legacy I want to leave behind.”

At Global Nomads, Amoa serves as a sounding board for the CEO and sits on the group’s finance committee. In one program initiative, students from as far as Nigeria and California united online to create a youth-led curriculum on climate change. This type of connectivity and cross-cultural understanding is crucial for development, Amoa says.

“It’s quite inspiring because you see solutions you may not see if you’re only focused on one prism,” Amoa says. “Increasingly, today’s issues are global in nature, so solutions will have to be global and include input from people with different lived experiences.”

Consulting on impact investing

Beyond her board roles, Diana consults on international projects, using her regulatory and finance expertise to assist organizations like the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank in developing guidelines for sustainable initiatives like Amazonia bonds.

Proceeds raised through these bond issuances are expected to support projects and activities that promote the sustainable development of the Amazon.

“I bring a top-down view, an ability to understand regulations in each country, and an understanding of the social and economic nuances in emerging economies,” she says.

Working on issues involving emerging markets and macro entails understanding policies and how they impact lives on the ground, she explains. It’s work that makes her feel like she’s making a real impact.

“I like that it’s very relevant to life, and it affects all of us,” Amoa says. “Being able to be a part of those macro conversations and provide input that could lead to better outcomes for people has been a privilege, and it’s something that I don’t take for granted.”

At home, Amoa tends to her indoor hydroponic vegetable garden—she hasn’t bought grocery store lettuce in two years—and she enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons. She’s also an avid reader.

“I’m always learning, and that’s important to me,” she says.

As for her next career move, she remains open to possibilities. When asked about interest in a potential return to J.P. Morgan, she says “Anything is possible.”

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