Mariana Atencio

Peabody Award-winning Journalist, Bestselling Author, Media Entrepreneur, Inspiring Storyteller, and Host/Moderator

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Virtual Keynote Speakers Diversity and Inclusion Leadership and Inspiration Media Personalities Hispanic/ Latino/Latina Healthcare Speakers Leadership Speakers

Mariana Atencio

Peabody Award-winning Journalist, Bestselling Author, Media Entrepreneur, Inspiring Storyteller, and Host/Moderator

Add To My Favorites Check Fee/Availability

In-Person Fee Range:

$20,001 - $30,000

Fee Details

Virtual Fee Range:

Inquire for Fee

Traveling from:

Florida

Why Book

As a former anchor at Univision/Fusion and national correspondent at NBC News, she’s traveled the world to report on some of the most volatile conflicts of our times, in both English and Spanish, for over a decade.
Her TED Talk “What Makes You Special?” is one of the top 10 most watched on Youtube, translated into 11 languages. Her first book, Perfectly You, was an Amazon Best Seller for Latino Biographies, and selected as an Audible Editor’s Pick and AppleBooks “Must Listen”.
Her first book “Perfectly You: Embracing the Power of Being Real” was an Amazon Best Seller, selected by Audible Editor’s Picks and Apple as a “Must Listen.”

Biography

Navigating change and uncertainty in life is hard. It’s even harder when you’re not confident about who you are. Coming to America from Venezuela as a young girl, Mariana Atencio felt self-conscious about being different.

She empathetically recounts her struggles to fit in and adapt to her new life. This story was shared in a TED talk that captured the hearts of tens of millions. Mariana’s message: What makes you different is what makes you special – unleash your potential by embracing your authenticity.

A Career Anchored in Storytelling

Mariana took that lesson into her journalism career as a national news anchor and network reporter. A born storyteller, Mariana worked to build bridges and understanding – reporting with her unique perspective from all over the globe, earning accolades and a prestigious Peabody Award along the way.

Mariana’s bestselling book, Perfectly You: Embracing the Power of Being Real, inspires people to leverage their personal and professional authenticity to supercharge their relationships, careers, workplace cultures, and happiness.

Mariana continues to pursue stories that capture her curiosity as head of her own media production company. She also elevates the impact of events through her powerful keynotes and skillful moderating, and hosting.

Bridging Cultures Through Reporting

Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Mariana graduated from Merici High School and received a journalism degree from Universidad Católica. When the government of Hugo Chávez shut down independent media outlets in her home country, she participated in student protests for democracy.

After being assaulted in an armed robbery, Mariana left for the United States when she received a full- merit scholarship to Columbia University’s Journalism School and received her master’s degree in broadcast journalism.

Recognition and Continuing Influence

Mariana got her big break anchoring and reporting at Univision. There, she also filed stories for the Documentaries and Investigative Unit. She won a Peabody Award and an Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) Award for her work uncovering illegal weapons sold across the border in Mexico.

Mariana also won a Gracie Award for directing, writing, and reporting PRESSionados, a documentary about press freedom in Latin America. She then went on to host The Morning Show on Fusion, the Disney and Univision joint venture, and co-anchored the 2016 Democratic Presidential debate.

Contributions Beyond Journalism

Mariana made the crossover from Spanish to English-speaking television as a national correspondent for NBC News where she was known for her boots-on-the-ground, engaging, and empathic field work.

Her investigative work on Latin America, the Latino community, cartel violence, women’s and migrants’ rights earned her three Emmy nominations, a Hillman Prize, and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Presidential Award.

Advocacy and New Ventures

In the course of her broadcast career, Mariana has reported from places like Haiti, the Syrian border, and China. She underscores the common threads in our humanity and emphasizes that we are all more alike than different.

She has interviewed dozens of notable figures. These include Pope Francis, President Joe Biden, King Felipe VI of Spain, Nancy Pelosi, chef and humanitarian José Andrés, author Yuval Noah Harari, and director Francis Ford Coppola.

Mariana’s journey is featured on the award-winning HBO series Habla, and People magazine called her storytelling platform “a media empire.” Ten years after she arrived in the United States, Mariana won Columbia’s First Decade Award for her impressive career as a journalist.

A Legacy of Empowerment

Mariana is a 2021 Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and spokesperson for the American Latino Museum in D.C. In 2022, she launched the hit true crime podcast series Lost in Panama. This series investigates the disappearance of Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon. It sheds light on the issue of missing women and girls in the region.

Lost in Panama made Apple Podcasts’ top 10 list. Mariana then headlined Foreign Policy magazine’s HerPower summit on tackling gender inequality in the Americas. Mariana’s TEDx talk “What Makes YOU Special?” is one of the top ten most-watched videos on YouTube. Doubling down on her message, she wrote her bestselling memoir, Perfectly You: Embracing the Power of Being Real.

Programs

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.