Esther Ndiangui
Senior Contracts & Grants Financial Accountant
Volume Milestones Schedule (VMS) Team
Esther is our Senior Contracts & Grants Financial Accountant for the Bill Fed Team (Federal Billing). She has been our contracts specialist in SPAC for ten years. She says, “Working in a Department where colleagues and supervisors are so supportive and care for each other’s wellbeing is what has kept me going… Our Team is unique due to its ability to work with all the UMB Departments and Sponsors. This means that we thrive on great interpersonal and effective communication skills which are some of the tenets of our excellent Customer Service.”
Esther also enjoys that Departments in UMB “…value and appreciate my support [and] input…” and sites this as “one of my most motivating factors in my job.” We consider this to be a strong reflection of how UMB implements our Core Values.
She says she embraces all the University’s Core Values, and that it is Respect and Integrity that “resonates” with her most. Esther says, “I enjoy working with other Departments and different UMB staff members, and sponsors and having back and forth respectful and professional communication. This Core Value has not only taught me to be more patient and accountable for my actions, but it has also taught me to treat others with respect [and] dignity regardless of their positions, who they are, and how they treat me.”
When asked about what she was most proud of working here, Esther says, “… of being part of an institution whose valuable research not only ‘advances knowledge’ in various fields, but also whose research outcomes ‘improve the health and well-being of communities’ across our State, the US, and the world at large.” Before coming to UMB she worked in various positions describing her career as “long and diverse…” and says that she is most proud of working with “donor-funded international development programs in resource-poor settings.” She says through these programs she was able to witness the positive impact they had on the “targeted communities.”
“In the past…, I travelled for work and conferences to over ten countries across three continents and the Caribbean… While this gave me the chance to work with and appreciate different cultures, it was also challenging to be occasionally away from my family,” she says. It should come as no surprise then that the power she would most like to have is teleportation. Esther would like to use it to see her friends from other continents. Esther says she “love[s] travelling and seeing new places as well as spending time with my family.” It should come as no surprise then that on her bucket list she says is to take, “Vacation trips to some Asian countries such as Japan, Singapore, and Bali/Indonesia…”
When asked what she enjoys doing outside of work, she mentioned listening to pop and gospel music. In addition, she usually likes watching “light-hearted tv shows and comedies.” Although you can also find her enjoying, “Netflix documentaries of true-life experiences, and other serious shows.” She mentioned that her current watch is the series, The Lincoln Lawyer, a legal drama about a defense attorney, Mickey Haller, who is known for being driven around in a Lincoln Navigator in LA.