Jan 13 2025
Peabody Award-winning Journalist, Bestselling Author, Entrepreneur, Inspiring Storyteller, Keynote Speaker, Host, & Moderator, Mariana Atencio speaks on The Power of Authenticity.
Mariana Atencio is on a mission to help people supercharge their careers, their workplace cultures, and their happiness by embracing the power of authenticity. After earning a Peabody Award for her reporting work, the massive success of her 23-million-view TEDx talk pushed Mariana to spread to as many people and organizations as possible. Mariana Atencio is available to be booked for corporate and private events. She is also well-known for his keynote and motivational speaking. Contact the Mollie Plotkin Group today to inquire about Mariana Atencio’s fees.
Contact the Mollie Plotkin Group at 215-510-6607 to book Mariana Atencio for corporate or private events, keynote speeches, workshops, fireside chats, motivational speaking, or virtual appearances. Our agency will work directly with your organization and our keynote speakers to create an unforgettable event.
We represent subject-matter experts in every possible field, so whether we’re your partner in creating a memorable meeting, or your meeting planner’s secret weapon in securing the perfect keynote speaker, we’re in this with you.
Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Mariana earned a journalism degree from Universidad Católica. However, the government of Hugo Chávez completely shut down independent media outlets in her home country. She participated in student protests for democracy but 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, where she earned her master’s degree in broadcast journalism.
Coming to America from Venezuela, Mariana learned first-hand how feeling self-conscious about being different kept her from engaging. After graduating from Columbia University, Mariana wanted to take that experience into her journalism career. To her, the most important stories are ones that build bridges and foster understanding.
Mariana got her big break anchoring and reporting at Univision, where she also worked for the Documentaries and Investigative Unit. There, 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. She also won a Gracie Award for directing, writing, and reporting PRESSionados, a documentary about press freedom in Latin America. Following her awards, she hosted The Morning Show on Fusion, a Disney and Univision joint venture, and co-anchored the 2016 Democratic Presidential debate.
Eventually, Mariana made the crossover from Spanish to English-speaking television as a national correspondent for NBC News. At NBC, she was known for her boots-on-the-ground, engaging, and empathic fieldwork. Her investigative work on Latin America, the Latino community, cartel violence, and women’s and migrants’ rights earned her three Emmy nominations, a Hillman Prize, and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Presidential Award. Throughout her broadcast career, Mariana has reported from places like Haiti, the Syrian border, and China, underscoring the common threads in our humanity and that we are all more alike than different. She has interviewed dozens of notable figures, including 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 TEDx talk What Makes YOU Special? garnered over 23 million views and catapulted Mariana into a new storytelling outlet: speaking. As a keynote speaker, Mariana is on a mission to create immense impact. Specifically, she discusses The Power of Authenticity and how organizations that build authenticity gain momentum toward tremendous, positive organizational change.
Doubling down on this message, she wrote her bestselling memoir, Perfectly You: Embracing the Power of Being Real. Perfectly You is a call to action that unleashes personal and professional authenticity to find purpose and break barriers.
Currently head of her own media production company, Mariana pursues stories that capture her curiosity. In 2022 she launched the hit true crime podcast series Lost in Panama, an investigation into the disappearance of Kris Kremers and Lisanne Froon. Straightaway, Lost in Panama made Apple Podcasts’ top #10 list. More significantly, it shed light on the issue of missing women and girls in the region and led Mariana to headline Foreign Policy magazine’s HerPower summit on tackling gender inequality in the Americas.
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 University’s First Decade Award for her impressive career. Mariana is also a 2021 Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and a spokesperson for the American Latino Museum.
Find out how to hire Mariana Atencio to appear at your next event. Contact the Mollie Plotkin Group to inquire about Mariana Atencio’s availability and cost. When booking Mariana Atencio for an event, we need to know the type of venue and location the event will take place. Mariana Atencio is a popular choice for corporate events, private events, and virtual events. So, you can click the Check Availability button or contact us and an MPG Mariana Atencio booking agent will get back to you within 48 hours.
How much to book Mariana Atencio depends on the type of event. So, the cost to hire Mariana Atencio for corporate or private events is available by contacting a Mollie Plotkin Group Agent. Notably, Mariana Atencio is available for conferences, festivals, private parties and events. Just contact the Mollie Plotkin Group and tell the booking agent the proposed date, time, and location.
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Supercharge Your Career, Your Workplace Culture, and Your Happiness
It takes seven seconds for people to form an opinion about you. That’s why most of us are taught to fit in a box instead of embracing those parts of ourselves that stand out. As a budding national TV journalist, Mariana was often encouraged to leave parts of herself at the door. But “covering” did not lead to real belonging, especially in the workplace. Embracing her uniqueness did. Mariana’s passion is empowering others to discover how to do the same.
When people feel safe to be themselves, that authenticity builds trust, fulfillment, and credibility at work and in life. They’re able to embrace a mindset of transformation to meet change more resiliently. And leaders find fostering authenticity in their team spurs engagement, collaboration, innovation, and community.
This presentation can be tailored to each specific audience.
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.
engaging, thought provoking and the perfect speaker for our flagship global annual conference held in Miami. She was such a pleasure to work with that she ended up interviewing and moderating two very critical panels for the agenda. Mariana’s experience and professionalism will make any company that chooses to work with her look great. – Director, Marketing & Communications Head, Citi Private Bank
Mariana has been the host of AT&T’s annual Hispanic Heritage Month events, celebrating employees’ authenticity and contributions toward the customers and communities we proudly serve. Mariana brings employees’ stories to life through her unique engagement and connection with our teams while creating a welcoming, energetic, and memorable atmosphere. Her dynamic stage presence, storytelling, and facilitation skills have positively impacted our events and attendees. We appreciate her commitment to amplifying our brand’s values as well as her partnership and collaboration in delivering unique experiences that support our mission of connecting people to greater possibilities! – Chief Strategy and Development Officer, AT&T Inc
you and your organization are in the best hands by hiring Mariana. We have booked Mariana for motivational keynotes aimed at employees, voice-over work, community programs, and social media campaigns and she has over delivered every time. Her creativity and attention to detail will make your brand stand out in a unique way! She is very dynamic and great at keeping the audience engaged. – Senior Manager, Ford Motor Company
enabled her to immediately connect with our audience. Through a series of stories, she shared uplifting, relevant, and empowering learnings that all of us can embrace as leaders. – VP, Google Cloud Consulting
In this much-needed book, which is part self-help and part autobiography, award-winning correspondent Mariana Atencio digs into what makes each of us special and the ways in which we can become a force for good in a broken world.
As a bilingual correspondent for NBC News, Fusion TV, and Univision, Mariana holds a unique perspective - having immigrated from Venezuela to America as a young adult, having overcome challenges to graduate from Columbia University and eventually become a national news correspondent, and having seen firsthand the humanity that is ever so present in the midst of both adversity and opportunity.
Mariana’s story is the powerful, inspiring story of life in the United States as an immigrant. Yet it is at its core a human story. It is all of our stories, and it is a call to every man, woman, and child to unlock the magic of their potential and begin to thrive.
The media screens of today perpetuate stereotypes, but what would happen if instead of comparing ourselves and falling short, we compared ourselves and celebrated our uniqueness? What would happen if we believed in our worth and embraced what makes us different? And what if we truly saw those around us as neighbors and not merely adversaries to our particular group or station?
The days of doubt and division must end. It starts with authenticity, persistence, and understanding what truly makes you special.
