Ashani Dante, also known as Mandy, is a renowned thought leader, speaker, visionary and Founder of Flourish Girl, with a proven track record in the social impact & business space.
Flourish Girl is a mission-driven charity focused on promoting feminine leadership and young women's mental health. With a background in speech pathology and thousands of hours working alongside leading schools, Ashani has become a powerful voice for mental health advocacy among young women and gender-diverse adolescents.
Over the past seven years, Ashani has grown Flourish Girl from an idea into a highly successful charity, alongside her team that has impacted the lives of over 17,000 teenage girls and gender-diverse teens across more than 100 schools in Australia. Her work has earned recognition from various organizations, including 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian Australian.
Australia's Top 25 Pro Bono Impact 25 Winner, 7 News Young Achievers Award 2022 Finalist for the First National Real Estate Leadership Category and Top 20 Australia’s Stellar South Asian Women Award 2022 by Australian South Asian Centre.
Beyond her work with Flourish Girl, Ashani is a thought leader, speaker, and visionary who has dedicated her life to empowering women to reclaim their intuitive gifts and harness the power of their inner wisdom. Her tagline, "gifting people with intuition," encapsulates her mission to help women unlock their full potential and become conscious leaders in their own right.
Ashani's journey of self-discovery and cultural reclamation has inspired countless women to embrace their unique identities and celebrate their cultural heritage. She is an advocate for cultural diversity and inclusion, encouraging everyone to forge a more compassionate and understanding world.
Widely recognised as a unique voice in this space, she has been an ambassador, speaker and writer for brands such as Channel 10 (Studio 10,) Modibodi RED, T2, Kikki K, MYOB, Supre, Vista Print, Saari Collective, Teen Breathe Magazine, Female.com & Whimn Magazine, Ashani continues to expand her reach and inspire positive change in the world. Her impact is nothing short of extraordinary, and she is destined to be a conscious leader of our time, guiding and uplifting women everywhere. Ashani Dante is a trailblazer, a guiding light, and an inspiration to us all.
Talking Points
Flourish for you
How can you make sure that your team members are flourishing in their roles at work? We will focus on looking at new innovative ways on improving your emotional resilience & health and making sure that you are driven by your passion & purpose within the workplace. This is not a step-by-step guide, it is an experience that will allow you to feel through what is authentic to you! Flourish for you
Key Takeaways:
- You will gain new tools on how improve your emotional health & resilience in the workplace and in your life
- You will gain an insight into your own unique strengths & passions
- You will discover how to integrate your strengths and passions more into your workplace.
Create a Flourishing Work Culture
Is it difficult for you to maintain a flourishing work culture, especially post lockdown and COVID? I hear you! It can be really tough trying to bring a team back to life. This talk will give you a new perspective on bringing life back into your workplace. Create a Flourishing Work Culture
Who this is for: Corporate (any business size), For Profit & Not for profits
Key Takeaways:
- You will get a bunch of great ideas on how to motivate and encourage your team to create a flourishing work culture.
- You will hear examples and stories of how I have implemented a flourishing work culture within Flourish Girl post-COVID and lockdowns.
- You will get practical tips on how to create a thriving and inclusive culture for a diverse team (age, culture, religion etc)
Add your flavor to leadership (feminine leadership)
When we think of leadership, we can often think of people who have stages, mics and badges. Leadership to me is very different. Leadership looks different to everyone, and this talk is all about embracing your individuality to lead effectively and passionately within your communities. Add your flavor to leadership (feminine leadership)
Who this is for: Corporate (any business size), For Profit & Not for profits
Key Takeaways:
- You will gain a new perspective on what leadership should really look like in today’s world
- You will identify what limiting beliefs stop you from being the authentic leader you are in your life
- You will understand what unique characteristics and values make your leadership stand out from the crowd!
Keeping up with the young people
We can all agree that the young people coming through are very different to when we were younger. After working with over 10 000 young people, you could say I know a thing or two around how to engage with young people in your workplace. A safe space will be created to discuss how you can keep up with the youthKeeping up with the young people
Key Takeaways:
- You will gain a better understanding of how young people think, feel & work in today’s world
- You will gain tools on how to make sure that all your business protocols are inclusive for young people
- You will implement strategies on how to improve the communication between yourself and the young people at your workplace.
For Schools: The aftermath of COVID
We know that after years of COVID, lockdowns & online learning, it’s been a really tough time for students and teachers to integrate back into ‘normal school life’. This talk will show you the current challenges we see schools go through and we will provide you with some effective strategies to put in place immediately so your school can flourish post-COVID. For Schools: The aftermath of COVID
Who this is for: Schools, Principals, Teachers
Key Takeaways:
- You will gain a better understanding of what students are telling us in our programs, around what they need more from their school to flourish post-COVID
- You will implement key strategies on how to restore love, strength & hope back into your school community
-You will leave with practical ways on how to create a safe, encouraging and inclusive space for all students.
For Schools: The Future of education
After working with over 10 000 young people across 50+ schools, we can see that the future of education is changing..and it’s changing fast. This talk will give you an insight on what the landscape of education is looking like from our perspective and how you and your school can get ready for the change! For Schools: The Future of education
3 Key Takeaways:
- You will gain an insight into what the landscape of education will look like over the next 20 years
- You will be given practical tools on how you and your school can best prepare for this
- You will learn how to implement more innovative language and tools within your school so you are championing the needs of students and parents.
For Schools: How to deal with transitions
At school, students are constantly going through transitions. Transitions include, entering Year 7, Getting a leadership position, preparing for exams, entering year 12 etc. What is missing in today’s world is a healthy way to deal with important transitions in our lives - especially at school. I know after working with 10 000 people that creating a healthy transition will prevent students from stress, anxiety & burnout. Here I will show you some really practical ways to support and encourage students to move through transitions with power, love & strength. For Schools: How to deal with transitions
Key Takeaways:
- You will learn what is needed to create a healthy transition throughout important school milestones
-You will understand how to practically implement a healthy transition at school right now.
- You will leave feeling confident, supported and encouraged to step into this next transition of your life with power, love and strength
For Schools: Flourishing into young leaders
If you are a leader or becoming a leader, we get that sometimes that can be very stressful. You may be wondering, how do I become the best leader with so many pressures and expectations? I will show you how you can flourish as a leader, despite the external and internal pressures you may encounter in your everyday life. You will leave this talk feeling empowered and grounded in yourself to lead with authenticity and love. For Schools: Flourishing into young leaders
Key Takeaways:
- You will understand the issues that young leaders feel at school
- You will implement key strategies on how to manage your emotional health as a leader
- You will leave feeling empowered and grounded in yourself to lead with authencity and love
- You will understand how to deal with difficult situations as a young leader
Video
Mandy Kota: Helping Girls Flourish
Mandy Kota has impacted the lives of thousands of young people across Australia and the world. Mandy's passion originated from being a speech pathologist, where she empowered children with a range of communication disorders to find their voice. Towards the end of 2016, Mandy found that the rate of depression, anxiety and eating disorders amongst teenage girls were on a rise and it was in that moment that she found herself shifting her passion and focus towards giving teenage girls a voice.Studio 10 x Flourish Girl
Our Founder, Ashani Dante & a past participant from Rainbow College, Tessa sat down with Studio 10 to share more about the importance of our work in schools across Victoria.Mandy is highly professional, insightful and a dynamic speaker who was able to harness the power of women truly supporting each other to face their own individual challenges. As a Psychologi ... keep reading Rachel, Mother of a Teenage Girl
I know how to be a better version of myself now after being with Mandy. I can't thank you enough!
