After living in Toronto, Canada since the age of ten, Shivanthi returned to Sri Lanka in 2011 with the intention of rediscovering her roots and contributing to the flourishing of her country of birth. She is driven to shape Sri Lankans to have mastery of the English language, powerful communication skills, and a strong work ethic, so that they can be confident to compete globally.
Having pushed herself out of her comfort zone at many stages in her life, she understands what it means and how to challenge others to grow.
Because she wanted to be rigorous and analytical she studied and worked in chemical engineering for five years. Thereafter, she chose to do an MBA in French so that she could gain business acumen, become perfectly bilingual, and expand the scope of her professional roles at multinational companies in Montreal where she lived and worked for ten years. In order to broaden her outlook, learn about the European approach, and to interact with new people and cultures, she spent three years in Europe studying the Arts in Spanish.
Her personal and professional journey helped her to realize the following: increasing one’s opportunities ultimately comes down to self-development. She therefore decided to dedicate herself professionally to pursuing her passion of nurturing in others the attitudes, qualities and skills that helped her progress in her career. Seeing the gaps in Sri Lanka, she founded and now directs ARETÉ Academy of People Development in Colombo. She is determined to help organizations grow by leveraging their people’s talents, and to assist individuals within their organizations to embrace their roles as vocations.