Mariana Atencio
Peabody Award-winning Journalist
Bestselling Author
Media Entrepreneur
Inspiring Storyteller
and Host/Moderator
Speaks About
- The Power of Authenticity
- Embracing Change
- Empathetic Leadership
- Increasing Engagement
- Inspiration & Motivation
- Belonging & Inclusivity
- Building Community & Trust
- Hispanic & Latinx Heritage
- Moderating & Hosting
Mariana in Brief
Peabody Award–winning and Emmy-nominated journalist and bestselling author.
Her TEDx talk, “What Makes YOU Special?”, has over 25 million views.
How authenticity builds trust, connection, and purpose – the foundation of great relationships and outstanding organizational cultures.
Brings her broadcast experience to host and moderate events – in English and in Spanish – for the world’s most respected companies and organizations.
In a world where so much of what we experience is not what it seems, we’re drawn to authentic people and organizations like a magnet. Their humanity and energy stand out and build trust, connection, and purpose – the foundation of great relationships and outstanding organizational cultures.
Mariana Atencio took the world by storm in 2017 with her viral TEDx talk on authenticity, “What Makes YOU Special?” – now with over 25 million views and translations in 13 languages. Her message: What makes you different is what makes you powerful. She inspires leaders and teams with the courage to embrace a blueprint to thrive through uncertainty, constant disruption, and their own self-doubt.
The authenticity lessons Mariana shares in her speeches are personal. She came to America and tried to fit in as she pursued her career as a broadcast journalist. But it wasn’t until she put self-doubt aside and decided to lean into what made her unique that her career began to take off. Her bestselling memoir, Perfectly You: Embracing the Power of Being Real, chronicles that journey and inspires readers to unlock the power of their personal stories.
Mariana built her journalism career first at Univision in Spanish, then crossed over to English at NBC News, where her boots-on-the-ground reporting on immigration, natural disasters, women’s rights, and cartel violence earned her a Peabody Award, a Gracie Award, three Emmy nominations, and the NAHJ Presidential Award. During her career she reported from the front lines of global events in places like Haiti, China, and the Syrian border. Her in-depth interviews span the spectrum – from world and business leaders to cultural icons.
Today, Mariana brings those same skills to the biggest global stages at live and virtual events for the world’s most respected companies and organizations. In her capacity as event host and moderator, she has interviewed heads of state, Fortune 100 CEOs, and global changemakers. She is unflappable as she moves from discussing innovation, the promise of AI, global economic growth, and a myriad of other important topics.
Mariana is an entrepreneur with her own media company and created the hit podcast Startup Series: Latam to spotlight breakthrough entrepreneurs from the Global South.
Whether she’s delivering a keynote, moderating a CEO panel, or leading a purpose-driven conversation, Mariana Atencio is at ease with her role. Her blend of intelligence, preparation, and signature warmth help to elevate events and make them memorable.
Born and raised in Venezuela, she left her home country amid political unrest and came to the U.S. on a scholarship to Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. She is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and serves on the board of the future Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino in Washington, D.C., a testament to her lifelong commitment to storytelling, representation, and community.
Books and Media
Understanding what makes YOU special is the first step to living confidently and navigating change and uncertainty successfully – at work and in life.
Mariana Atencio
Speech Descriptions
The Power of Being Perfectly You
It’s a fact: People are at their best – at work and in life – when they feel like they can be themselves. They’re more confident in the face of change and uncertainty, more engaged and resilient, and have a greater sense of purpose and well-being. But fear can sometimes keep us from being real. In this presentation, Mariana Atencio brings her energy, humor, and skillful storytelling to inspire people to embrace their authenticity and unleash the power that comes with being themselves. Being “Perfectly You” builds trust and connection – it attracts people like a magnet because authenticity stands out in a world of algorithms and A.I. content. Mariana’s unique personal story and infectious optimism energizes people with the courage to fully engage, adapt to constant change, and reach new levels of fulfillment at work and in life.
Sample takeaways:
• Unlock the secret of being our real selves, especially at work.
• How to discover and harness the traits that make you “Perfectly You.”
• Navigate change confidently. Increase your personal fulfillment and sense of purpose.
• Why being vulnerable and leading with empathy inspires others, builds trust, and creates more meaningful relationships.
• 4 steps authentic leaders use to cultivate transformation and innovation and enhance resilience in the face of change.
• Help leaders create a culture of authenticity that spurs engagement, connection, collaboration, and performance.
Transformative Leadership: Building Trust Through Authenticity
A title doesn’t make someone a leader. What makes a leader is followers. The challenge of leading today is that people are increasingly skeptical and distrustful. The job of every leader is to build trust through authenticity and transparency, guiding teams effectively through change and uncertainty. It takes courage to lead this way, but the benefits are undeniable. Leaders who inspire trust generate a sense of belonging and inspire people to deliver their best efforts and ideas.
In this talk, Mariana Atencio helps people tap into the transformative power of embracing their true selves as leaders. She unveils the four core traits that define authentic leaders: unyielding courage, dynamic agility, powerful communication, and an unwavering growth mindset. Her transformative formula for unlocking leadership potential focuses on actionable tools that are immediately applicable to build a culture of trust, authenticity and leading with purpose.
Key takeaways:
• Develop the skills to identify, understand, and guide your team through change effectively.
• Leverage your unique leadership abilities to build trust.
• Communicate with clarity, empathy, and transparency to navigate uncertainty.
• Unite your teams around a shared purpose to drive collective progress.
Communicating Confidently – Cut Through the Noise and Get Heard ( Post-Keynote Breakout or Separate Keynote)
For everyone in business, delivering a message efficiently – internally and in different media – has gotten infinitely more complex in the age of AI. This interactive presentation will help attendees sharpen their communication skills. Mariana equips leaders – from entry level to the C-Suite – with practical tools and tested principles to speak confidently, authentically, and effectively, whether it’s for client meetings, internal communications, Zoom, an important presentation, a traditional media interview, a digital clip and/or a conference stage. Mariana will share tips that took her more than a decade of television and social media experience to learn, working at two of the world’s biggest news networks, in Spanish and English. 45-90 Minutes
Sample takeaways:
• Learn to distill your main message so it resonates across all platforms.
• Practical tips and pro tricks for in-person and virtual presentations.
• Master the power of persuasion in an era of fleeting attention spans.
• Better storytelling to create connection and leave a lasting impact.
• Establish credibility and build trust in an era of misinformation.
• How to navigate real-time interview scenarios with confidence.
Moderating, Interviewing, and Hosting
With experience as a national network news anchor and reporter, Mariana brings warmth and intelligence to each hosting, moderating, and interviewing assignment. Mariana’s curiosity and poise help her get the most out of those on stage with her.
The breadth of Mariana’s experience speaks to her versatility. She’s moderated conversations on embracing a mindset for change at Microsoft, on the rights of women in Iran, on gender inequality at Foreign Policy magazine’s HERPower summit, on media representation at the Paley Center for Media, on financial literacy at Nasdaq, on building a personal and professional brand at Columbia University, a panel on geopolitics and economics at Citi Private Bank’s autumn dialogues with three heads of state from Latin America, a session at the United Nations General Assembly meeting on global healthcare inequity, plus the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, PepsiCo, JP Morgan, Accenture, Spotify, Google, YouTube, Clorox, AT&T, Spectrum, and more.