A Correspondent
It is all about people not numbers.
Less than five years ago, Cristian Montofre, a Chartered Accountant, Licensed Immigration Adviser and Business Adviser and Mariela Ehijo, a social worker from the Latin American community in Auckland decided to embark on a journey where they would put to good use their skills and passion to help others get ahead in life.
At that time, they were working full time jobs and Cristian rapidly became disillusioned how his employers were focused on the bottom line (i.e. numbers) and not people.
So, he and Mariela decided to set up a business called Abroad NZ (Abroad).
Little did they know that word would get around quickly about Abroad that would see them helping people from other nations and cultural backgrounds.
The purpose: Why
This is the story of Abroad, a professional services organisation in Auckland with a strong sense of purpose and way of doing do things.
For us, it is that thing or cause that inspires us to get up every day and go to work.
We believe that everything we do as an organisation has a positive effect in a person’s life no matter where they are located or where they are from.
Our passion lies in knowing that what we do forms part of the life changing process for individuals of all races and cultures who look abroad for new experiences and opportunities.
We believe that by combining emotional intelligence, technology and technical analysis we are able to create solutions to problems that allows our clients to achieve their dreams.
We are a professional services organisation operating in three industries – education, migration and people.
Professional Services
The focus of the team at Abroad is to put people first.
If you take out the humanity out of business, you end up with nothing more than a meaningless and purposeless set of actions that has no life in it.
It may sound too deep or philosophical, however, the reality is that business is about people. It is about understanding their needs and how these needs are linked to their innate desire to live out their humanity in the best way possible.
Team work
We try to give our clients access to an experience of working with a team of individuals from various academic and cultural backgrounds.
This has been achieved thus far by having the correct boundaries and systems so that everyone at Abroad knows what to do and how to do it without losing our strong sense of why we do what we do.
There are three service lines at Abroad, with two of them fully operational (Education and Migration) and one in the start-up phase (People).
Each service is led by a person who is qualified and accredited (if required) to provide services to clients and manage the risk assessment and compliance processes to provide timely and effective advice to help people solve problems related to studying, working or settling in a country like New Zealand.
Global Vision
When Cristian decided to embark on the Abroad journey, his sight was always on something bigger. The vision of Abroad had to be big and global.
Mariela agreed and supported the vision.
Taking the time to study the international education industry in New Zealand and Australia, it became evident to Cristian and Mariela that there were gaps, and still are, in the industry. These gaps create uncontrollable risks that are associated with improper regulation, malevolent use of information by operators in the industry that allows them to take advantage of the need of people wanting to travel abroad for a particular purpose.
It is about the numbers, not people.
Clearer Vision
After this, the vision became clearer and had to start in New Zealand; our vision is to be a place where, whosoever travels to New Zealand, finds the support and care that creates real opportunities for growth, personal development and a positive life changing adventure.
To achieve our vision, we need the right strategy, the right plans and systems, and most important of all, the right people to be part of the Abroad team who share and live the values of the organisation.
The Indian Mix
In addition to operating in markets from Latin America and some European countries, Cristian and Mariela decided to invite Neha Mokashi to become the Regional Partner to attend and service the needs of the Indian community in relation to international education and migration.
Our clients from the Indian community are served by Neha and our team based in Auckland with positive results thus far.
Having a mix of Latin American and Indian nationals in our office is never a dull moment and our clients from India love how we mix passion with technical prowess to achieve a positive outcome.
Neha brings to the table over 10 years in the international education industry, coupled with a strong sense of why she does what she does.
Her purpose and goals are to assist students and professionals from the Indian community to make informed decisions and feel the support from a team of qualified professionals who have the experience, knowhow and passion to see them succeed.
Meet Us
We provide half-hour free consultation to enable people to get to know more about us.
Please call Neha Mokashi on 021-552299 or email us at info@abroadnz.com.
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Photo Caption:
- Cristian Montofre
- Mariela Ehijo
- Neha Mokashi
