1. Tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m a mother to a 3 year old and a career woman, working in financial services. I love travelling and reading.
2. What work do you do?
I am a programme lead for Financial Education at FNB. Our main purpose is delivering financial education programmes to South African consumers in an effort to improve financial literacy levels in the country.
3. How long have you been in the industry?
I’ve worked in Financial Services for 20 years now and have been fortunate to work at various institutions in this time.
4. Has your work always been your passion? Tell us why?
I’m passionate about making a difference and have been fortunate to have held jobs that focus on inclusivity and development. Through various socio-economic development programmes like financial inclusion and financial education, I’ve been able to live my passion through my work on a daily basis. We live in a country with high levels of poverty and inequality.
I believe that those of us fortunate enough to hold good jobs have an obligation to contribute to changing the status quo for millions of South Africans that struggle on a daily basis. Throughout my career, I have made a conscious decision to do work that contributes to bringing about change. My work and personal value systems have to align. And in my case – intersect.
5. Being a women in the industry – what does it take?
It takes grit and resilience. For me, grit is about being courageous, passionate, and strong. Resilience is our ability to bounce back or recover quickly.
6. What has been the most difficult challenge of your career?
Leading teams is an honour and responsibility. I’ve once had to lead a team that faced numerous changes and upheavals. During the process of assuming a leadership role within the team, I learnt how to be patient and learnt about the importance of empathy. Balancing business demands and employee needs is not easy. This has been one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in my career. But also the one that has taught me the most valuable lessons about people, leadership, and communication.
7. What advice do you have for other women in your industry?
Be passionate about your work. Own your place in the boardroom. Be confident. Be you.
8. Plans for the future?
I hope to continue to do work that makes a difference to peoples’ lives.
Short bio
Dhashni has spent most of her 20-year career in financial services. She started in Corporate Social Investment at Standard Bank and then moved into consumer education and financial inclusion at the institution where she spent 7 years designing and managing consumer education and training programmes.
She then moved to FinMark Trust as Head of Responsible Finance. During her time there she was involved in SADC wide initiatives focusing on financial education, consumer protection, and financial inclusion. She was instrumental in the design and development of a Financial Education training toolkit that was used in various SADC countries to train financial education practitioners.
She has presented at various international and regional conferences on the topic of financial education. More recently Dhashni worked at an economics consulting firm, in the Evaluation for Development practice. She was responsible for managing monitoring and evaluation (ME) assignments for clients in governments, the private sector, and donors.
She led M&E assignments of financial education, financial inclusion and youth development programmes. She is currently the Programme Manager for Consumer Education at FNB, responsible for driving strategy and programme design for financial education. Dhashni has a degree in Linguistics from UKZN and a post-graduate degree from GIBS.
