Dancia Kendra Susilo receives Influential Woman in Business Award 2026 for Mental Health Leadership

The following year, she addressed eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa and Pica. Marks were deducted because the subject was considered not to fit with the school’s Catholic values.

The experience showed her that the problem extended beyond a lack of awareness or resources. Stigma itself could prevent people from speaking openly and receiving help. Mental health subsequently became central to her music and poetry, allowing her to introduce difficult subjects in more approachable ways and meet people where they were.

By 14, Dancia was attending symposiums and conferences alongside adults, advocating for mental health education and stigma reduction among young people and school boards. PA days were spent completing certification training and visiting the York Catholic District School Board to argue for better mental health resources and initiatives. Much of her high school experience was dedicated to developing support for her peers.

Looking back, Dancia is proud of what she achieved but also saddened that such responsibility fell to a child.

“A child should not have had to give up their childhood in order to make adults listen and pay attention to their needs and to provide the support and resources that’s required for so many of us children.”

At the time, she recalls statistics indicating that in a high school of 2,000 pupils, one child would die from suicide every four years. For Dancia, that should have been enough to prompt action without requiring a child to demand attention for the issue.

The same determination continued into business. Dancia describes the key ingredient behind her success as “absolute stubbornness”. During an Entrepreneurship project, a teacher told her that her business idea would not make money. She went home, spoke with potential customers and generated its first US$500, returning to school with the messages and receipt to prove the concept.

Despite her father discouraging her from pursuing music, Dancia was also earning money through music by 14 and later organised a charity show that helped raise CAD$5,000 for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.

Resilience, however, was a necessity long before it became a professional strength. Dancia describes largely raising herself and living in a house that did not feel like a home, keeping a go-bag ready from around nine or ten years old. Despite experiences of hurt, mistreatment and betrayal, she remains committed to maintaining faith in humanity.

She believes in examining people and situations through information, statistics and context rather than judging solely on appearances or past mistakes. For Dancia, creating change also means leading by example.

That philosophy informs her advice to women and girls entering spaces where they may not represent the average demographic. She encourages them not to be intimidated or pushed out of conversations, but to listen carefully, respond confidently and reclaim the floor when interrupted: “I was speaking, and I was not done speaking.”

For Dancia, one of the greatest benefits of running her own business is being able to choose work that creates wider positive impact. Having spent much of her life searching for people who truly understood and supported her, being able to provide hope and support to others carries particular meaning.

That thinking shaped her decision to restructure her business around ESG. She realised that the volunteering she imagined doing in retirement, helping people and making their lives easier, could instead become part of her everyday work.

“Knowing that I’m having that greater impact and knowing that I am helping tens of thousands of people, hopefully hundreds of thousands or millions of people in the future, that is what keeps me going and that motivates me.”

That impact means more to Dancia than conventional measures of success. Despite her publications, education and awards, some of the most meaningful moments are when people tell her, “When I grow up, I want to be you,” particularly when those words come from somebody older.

She recognises that many people want to make a difference but also need financial security. Her own path has involved sacrifice, including putting aside ambitions such as owning a home or having children while focusing on advocacy and humanitarian work. She does not expect others to make the same choices and respects those who choose differently.

Looking ahead, Dancia remains committed to steady progress. She is working towards her doctorate, writing her third book and hopes to return to music by creating an album from songs she has previously written.

She is also learning how to slow down. Years of helping others and building communities have brought periods of significant burnout, at times resulting in extreme pain or hospitalisation from the physical effects. She now wants to become more comfortable with relaxing and learn to take better care of herself.

What has not changed is her persistence. Giving up has never felt like an option. Dancia sees failure as part of the process rather than an ending, believing unsuccessful projects provide opportunities to learn and grow. A failed project does not define the person behind it. What matters is continuing to try while remaining true to personal values and maintaining integrity.

The Influential Woman in Business Award 2026 carries particular significance because Dancia began her work so young and remains younger than many of the Board Directors and Executives she encounters. Age can sometimes make it difficult to be taken seriously at that level, making independent recognition valuable in validating her work and impact.

It is also Dancia’s first international award. She had not known the award existed or realised her work was being noticed in the UK, making the fact that she was independently identified and approached particularly meaningful.

“I didn’t think that I was having such a global impact that I would be recognised at an international level. I think it’s opening my eyes a little bit more as to the level of impact that I have created.”

Dancia has undertaken work published by the British Psychological Society and hopes to do more with the organisation, as well as potentially working with the NHS. Her longer-term ambitions include working across more countries and contributing to organisations and initiatives including the United Nations, World Health Organization, World Water Forum and Global Institute for Women’s Leadership.

Despite those ambitions, Dancia does not identify one individual as her greatest mentor. Instead, she learns from everyone she meets. Different backgrounds, stories and perspectives help her approach problems from multiple angles, anticipate challenges and understand different communities. Most importantly, they have taught her how to bridge people together.

Behind ESG strategies, DEI initiatives, policies, governance and training are people. For Dancia, that human element remains fundamental. Her work ultimately comes back to asking how people’s lives can be made better and easier, how more people can be kept safe and how communities can provide the compassion individuals need to grow and flourish.

From speaking about mental health as a schoolchild to advocating within school boards, building businesses and influencing organisational policy and governance, Dancia Kendra Susilo’s journey has remained grounded in the same determination to create meaningful change.

The Influential Woman in Business Award 2026 for Mental Health Leadership recognises that sustained commitment and the impact it continues to create. For Dancia, it is not an endpoint, but recognition of how far years of persistence have already travelled and how much further that work could still go.

Contact

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