Andrea Cosentino is a speaker, emcee, and writer whose work centres on honesty and how we learn from experience.
Her perspective is shaped by undergraduate and postgraduate study spanning gerontology, health, gender and disability, and a 30-year career across Canada, England and Australia in competitive synchronized swimming, aged care, university, not-for-profit and local government settings.
Across that career, Andrea has conducted more than 200 formal interviews in academic research and staff recruitment. She has coached, led and, above all, listened to people share their experiences, life learnings and stories. Together with decades of writing and reflection, these conversations have deepened her curiosity about what experience can teach us, if we're willing to pay attention.
Andrea knows personally that honesty isn't always comfortable. Living with chronic illness has taught her that pretending something is working when it isn't comes at a cost. The sooner she can be honest with herself about what is happening, the sooner she can consider what needs to change. Over time, that realisation has extended far beyond her health.
Today, Andrea explores why individuals and workplaces can find themselves repeating familiar patterns, even when those patterns aren't serving them, and what becomes possible when we pause long enough to listen, reflect and get curious about what we're doing.
Through Learning from Life, Andrea helps people turn everyday experience into more deliberate choices about how they live, learn, and lead.
Live with Honesty.
Learn from Experience.
Lead with Intention.
The Long (& Professional) Bio
Andrea is the founder of Learning from Life, partner, mum of two, and multiple award and scholarship recipient with more than 25 years’ experience working across universities, aged care, local government, and community organisations in Canada, England, and Australia.
Growing up in Hamilton, Canada, and later living England, Vancouver, and now Hurstbridge (Melbourne) Australia, Andrea’s curiosity, love of learning, and listening to others led her to complete and graduate with distinction from an Honours BA at McMaster University (Canada) and an MA at the University of Leeds (England), and to undertake PhD studies at Flinders University (Australia). She has also travelled extensively throughout Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia, the United States, and Australia.
Across her career, Andrea has worked at Flinders University, La Trobe University, McMaster University, the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, Aged Care Research & Industry Innovation, Nillumbik Shire Council, Melbourne Legacy, and Jewish Care, as well as in management roles in residential aged care.
Her work has been published in the Gerontological Society of America, the Leeds Centre for Disability Studies Disability Archive, the Life Writing Series for the McMaster Centre for Gerontological Studies, among other outlets.
She has presented at the Festival of International Conferences on Caregiving, Disability, Aging and Technology, and at the Canadian Association on Gerontology Annual Scientific and Educational Conference. She has also helped organise, facilitate, present, and chair conferences, competitions, forums, panels, and information sessions across England, Canada, and Australia.
Alongside her professional leadership roles, Andrea has contributed to her community through positions such as Media Information Desk Attendant at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics; School Council President at Diamond Valley College; President Vancouver Masters Synchro Club; President Diamond Valley Toy Library; and Committee Member for the Australasian Society for Intellectual Disability.
Andrea has been featured in Australian and Canadian media including Daily Mail Australia, The Hamilton Spectator, The Hamilton Mountain News, CHCH TV, C-MORE Radio, 900 CHML Radio, and Y95 Radio.
A former competitive synchronised swimming athlete, coach, and judge, Andrea brings the focus, discipline, teamwork, and resilience of high-performance sport to her work with people and organisations.
Known for sharing what she has learned from her personal, academic, and professional experiences, Andrea creates non-judgemental spaces where people feel safe to reflect, share their stories, and learn from one another.
Throughout all of this, Andrea has also navigated the often-debilitating experiences of anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and functional neurological disorder. These lived experiences deeply inform her ability to share, connect, and Learn from Life.
