At Mantel, we believe that our professional skills can, and should, be used to create meaningful positive change in the world. Our culture encourages every team member to pursue projects close to their hearts, ensuring that our expertise extends beyond our client work and into the community. This commitment to giving back is woven into the fabric of life here, demonstrating how we find purpose in multiple ways.
Applying tech skills for social good
A core part of our community effort is leveraging our technology and data science expertise to benefit important charities.
For example, one team member had the enriching experience of working with Beyond Blue, an organisation providing vital mental health and wellbeing support to Australians. Using techniques in data science and artificial intelligence, the goal was to identify early indicators of distress and enhance their triaging process. This project embodies our motivation: to use our skills—however small the steps—to improve the lives of those around us.
Similarly, one of our team members on the Board of Western Chances (WC), an organisation that supports young people in Melbourne’s disadvantaged west with scholarships and programs, successfully pitched for Mantel to provide pro bono work. The project involves some of our finest technologists helping WC create a digital strategy and roadmap to uplift their technology. This digital transformation will ensure the organisation can have an even greater impact on the community members it serves.
Vu Long Tran, Senior Product Consultant at Mantel.
The power of the Community Team of Teams
Our collective drive for social change is organised and amplified through initiatives like the Mantel Community Team of Teams (ToT) where a group of individuals with a passion and shared interest come together to work on a mission organically.
This approach empowers employees to advocate for the social and community issues they care about most, such as refugee and asylum seeker advocacy. Through the ToT, team members can organise enterprise-wide talks, set up programs to work directly with related charities, and promote skills-sharing initiatives to support the asylum seeker community. The goal is to raise awareness and support others in our communities in every way we can, recognising the importance of community and personal relationships, especially in today’s times of political and ecological instability.
We also support the ASRC by offering practical, confidence-building assistance to clients navigating the Australian job market. A key component of this partnership involves mock job interviews facilitated by dedicated Mantel employees.
For people seeking asylum, securing employment in a new country can be one of the most significant challenges, often due to unfamiliarity with Australian workplace culture and interview processes. Mantel steps in to address this by providing feedback and coaching to those preparing for employment.
”It is an absolute pleasure working with the ASRC. They work tirelessly to advocate and support those who seek asylum in Australia. Given the current context of world events, it is now more important than ever to form social bridges, support communities in need, and work closely with people who demonstrate empathy and compassion in their everyday lives. At Mantel, we aim to live by our principles and I hope the little bit of help we provide can make all the difference.
Stefan Fernandes | MantelSenior Data Scientist
The generosity of our culture also extends to personal volunteering. Mantel supports team members who bring their “whole selves” to work, whether they are volunteering with the State Emergency Service (SES) or sitting on the board of a charity they care deeply about. We are grateful that our team can not only share the great causes they believe in but also have Mantel actively support them.
Our ambition remains strong: to continue raising awareness, applying our technical skills for social impact, and supporting our communities in whatever way we can.
Sustainability, active reusing and recycling
At Mantel, we believe in giving our hardware a ‘Second Life’ through our active reusing and recycling program.
When our equipment reaches the end of its cycle, we redistribute it in three meaningful ways:
Donation to Litehaus: We partner with Litehaus, a fantastic charity that provides professionally refurbished digital devices to underprivileged Indigenous communities in Australia and Papua New Guinea. This ensures our older technology directly empowers those who need it most.
Charity Auction: Hardware is auctioned off, with 100% of the funds donated to a charity of our team’s choice. This transforms old assets into new financial support for worthy causes.
Internal Reuse: We prioritise sustainability by reusing hardware internally for our team members across Mantel, extending the functional life of the equipment.
