Sylvia Acevedo

CEO, Corporate Board Director, Speaker, Author, Tech Exec

Sylvia Acevedo is a trailblazer starting as a rocket scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratories, a tech executive at Apple, Dell, and IBM, a White House Commissioner and CEO of one of the world’s most trusted brands, the Girl Scouts of the USA. Sylvia now serves on the Board of Directors for the public companies Qualcomm and Credo Technologies and two early stage private companies, Quark.ai and Ambri Battery. In December 2022, Bloomberg named Sylvia Acevedo as one of the top 100 Influential Latino/a’s. She’s been listed on Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business” and In Style’s “Number 7 on the Badass 50: Women Who are Changing the World.” She’s an in demand corporate speaker on Innovation and Leadership.

  • Sylvia Acevedo Keynote Speaker Fee Fee range is for U.S. events, depending on location and organization type

    Please Inquire

  • Languages Spoken

    English, Spanish

  • Travels From

    California, USA

  • Sylvia Acevedo Keynote Speaker Fee Fee range is for U.S. events, depending on location and organization type

    Please Inquire

  • Languages Spoken

    English, Spanish

  • Travels From

    California, USA

Suggested Keynote Speaker Programs

Leveraging shifts to accelerate innovation

In a landscape that’s ever-evolving, the ability to pivot isn’t just an advantage—it’s essential. But what if, instead of merely adapting, you could ride the crest of these tidal waves of change and channel their power? This electrifying keynote unveils the...

In a landscape that’s ever-evolving, the ability to pivot isn’t just an advantage—it’s essential. But what if, instead of merely adapting, you could ride the crest of these tidal waves of change and channel their power? This electrifying keynote unveils the art and science of leveraging monumental shifts in business, technology, and society. With riveting real life examples and breakthrough strategies, you’ll learn not just to navigate, but to ignite innovation like never before. Supercharge your company’s journey, transforming challenges into unparalleled opportunities for growth. Let’s not just keep pace—let’s redefine it.

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Fireside Chat: Trailblazing Leadership: Igniting the Path to Success

In today’s dynamic business landscape, we need leaders who break barriers and drive transformational change. Join us for an impactful fireside chat, “Trailblazing Leadership: Igniting the Path to Success”, led by an acclaimed global leader Sylvia Acevedo This...

In today’s dynamic business landscape, we need leaders who break barriers and drive transformational change. Join us for an impactful fireside chat, “Trailblazing Leadership: Igniting the Path to Success”, led by an acclaimed global leader Sylvia Acevedo This talk dives into the heart of audacious leadership, showcasing how it sparks innovation and resilience. Through personal anecdotes and captivating storytelling, our speaker challenges conventional perspectives, inspiring new ways to imagine opportunities for career advancement and explore new ideas. This session isn’t just about leadership – it’s about the courage to maximize you and your organization’s potential to make a lasting impact. Join us to be inspired, enlightened, and empowered to ignite your journey towards trailblazing leadership. Embark on this mind-expanding exploration and engrain a trailblazer’s spirit into your leadership ethos.

This fireside chat will be an inspirational charge to your leadership ethos, instilling a trailblazer’s spirit into your corporate DNA. Come prepared to be inspired, enlightened, and empowered to blaze your own trail in leadership and beyond.

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Innovation Unleashed: Accelerating Your Competitive Advantage

Join us for a vital session, “Innovation Unleashed”, led by Sylvia Acevedo, highly awarded leader known for transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. In an ever-changing business environment, staying competitive demands relentless innovation. Sylvia will ...

Join us for a vital session, “Innovation Unleashed”, led by Sylvia Acevedo, highly awarded leader known for transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. In an ever-changing business environment, staying competitive demands relentless innovation. Sylvia will demystify how to leverage this power to drive growth and stay ahead of the curve even in the most challenging environments. This talk isn’t just about innovation—it’s about boldness to transcend boundaries, creativity to envision the unimaginable, and tenacity to bring visions to life. It’s about redefining the way you see and create value through captivating storytelling of hard learned lessons. Embark on this journey with Sylvia, and you’ll leave not just inspired, but equipped with actionable insights to foster innovation and secure your competitive edge in today’s dynamic world.

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Igniting Change: The Unstoppable Journey of Hispanic Leadership with Sylvia Acevedo

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we are thrilled to present an inspiring dialogue with one of the most formidable leaders of our time, Sylvia Acevedo. Celebrated globally and recognized by Bloomberg as one of the world’s most influential Latinos, and spotlighted in ...

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we are thrilled to present an inspiring dialogue with one of the most formidable leaders of our time, Sylvia Acevedo. Celebrated globally and recognized by Bloomberg as one of the world’s most influential Latinos, and spotlighted in Smithsonian’s book “30 Inspiring Latino/a’s that have shaped the United States,” Sylvia embodies the strength of Hispanic leadership. In “Igniting Change”, Sylvia recounts her remarkable trajectory—from her early days as a rocket scientist at NASA, to a prominent technology executive at Apple, IBM, and Dell, to a dedicated White House Education Commissioner under President Obama, and to her inspiring tenure as CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA. Her tenure at Girl Scouts was transformative, integrating STEM programming and leading the charge as over 1 million Girl Scouts earned STEM badges. Today, Sylvia is a pioneering global leader on numerous corporate boards.

Through sharing her life’s journey, Sylvia underscores the resilience, courage, and relentless persistence that have characterized her trailblazing career. With her inspiring narrative, she illuminates the powerful role that these traits play in fostering innovative leadership and effecting meaningful change. This talk is more than a personal story—it’s a celebration of the power of the embracing your potential, who you are and its transformative impact on leadership. Sylvia inspires you to embrace and celebrate your own potential, using it as a source of strength, resilience, and innovation.

Prepare to be inspired by Sylvia Acevedo’s compelling story of resilience, innovation, and unwavering commitment to transformation. This is a rare opportunity to learn from a leader who has repeatedly shattered glass ceilings and continues to inspire the next generation of leaders. Don’t miss this unique chance—join us in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month through an empowering narrative that is sure to embolden and motivate.

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Radiant Rise: Sylvia Acevedo's Inspiring Journey of Female Empowerment and Leadership

This Women’s History Month, join us for a thrilling dialogue with Sylvia Acevedo, a leading figure who has continually broken barriers and redefined women’s leadership. Recognized as one of the world’s most influential Latinos by Bloomberg, and 7th on In Style&#...

This Women’s History Month, join us for a thrilling dialogue with Sylvia Acevedo, a leading figure who has continually broken barriers and redefined women’s leadership. Recognized as one of the world’s most influential Latinos by Bloomberg, and 7th on In Style’s Badass 50: Women Changing the World,”” Sylvia’s story is a beacon of inspiration for women around the globe.

In “Radiant Rise”, Sylvia shares her remarkable journey, from her early career as a NASA rocket scientist to being a tech executive at giants like Apple, IBM, and Dell. Not stopping there, she served as a White House Education Commissioner under President Obama and as the innovative CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA. Here, she instilled a passion for STEM among a generation of girls, resulting in over 1 million STEM badges earned under her leadership. Today, Sylvia stands as a triumphant Latina on several corporate boards.

Sylvia’s tale isn’t just a personal success story—it’s a testament to the power of every women’s resilience, courage, and unwavering persistence in the face of challenges. Her trajectory serves as an empowering narrative for aspiring women leaders and disruptors. Join us to celebrate Women’s History Month with Sylvia’s inspiring story. Get ready to be moved, empowered, and motivated to rise to your potential, This is more than a session—it’s a celebration of female empowerment and leadership that will inspire you to ignite your own trailblazing journey.

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Career Acceleration. Unleashing Leaders Potential to the Top

Your mentor on this journey, a trailblazing leader with a wealth of diverse industry leadership experiences that started as a rocket scientist at NASA, and then who carved an enviable path of innovation and leadership as a tech executive at IBM, Apple, and Dell. Sylvia pivoted...

Your mentor on this journey, a trailblazing leader with a wealth of diverse industry leadership experiences that started as a rocket scientist at NASA, and then who carved an enviable path of innovation and leadership as a tech executive at IBM, Apple, and Dell. Sylvia pivoted to public service leadership where she became a White House Education Commissioner and then CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA. As CEO, Sylvia spearheaded the most extensive program rollout in its history, with over a million STEM badges earned by Girl Scouts during her tenure. Now serving on board director roles in Fortune 150 public and private companies, she offers unique insights into the nuances of attaining and succeeding all the way to the C-Suite.

However, the path to the top isn’t always smooth. It’s filled with humbling experiences, stumbles, and lessons, each one molding the leader in unique ways. Through her own experiences, Sylvia seeks to provide you with invaluable wisdom, helping you navigate your path with resilience and adaptability.

Embark on this inspiring journey with us and accelerate your progression to the top tiers of leadership. This session is an extraordinary chance to refine your leadership style, uncover personal growth opportunities, and equip yourself with the knowledge to successfully navigate the complex journey of leadership. Let’s pave your path to success together.

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About Keynote Speaker Sylvia Acevedo

Sylvia Acevedo is a nationally recognized and highly awarded trailblazer in a variety of industries and fields. Sylvia held executive roles at Apple, Dell, IBM and Autodesk and was a White House Commissioner in the Obama administration. Sylvia started her career as a rocket scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labs where she worked on the Voyager 2 mission.

Sylvia serves on the Board of Directors for Qualcomm, Credo Technologies and Ambri Battery. She has received many distinctions for leadership, including in 2019 the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineering awarding her the Captain of Industry Leadership Award and being named the “Cybersecurity Person of the Year”, by Cybersecurity Ventures. In December 2022, Bloomberg listed Sylvia as one of the top 100 Influential Latino/a’s. Forbes named her as one of America’s Top 50 Women in Tech and In Style’s listed Sylvia as “Number 7 on the Badass 50: Women Who are Changing the World.”

Sylvia served as CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA from 2016-2020 where she led the largest program rollout in the 100 plus year history of the organization with over 146 new badges and programs in STEM, Outdoors, Entrepreneurship and Civics. Over one million STEM badges were earned during her tenure from girls in rural, urban and suburban communities.

Prior to becoming CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA, as a devout believer in the power of education and technology to transformation and improve lives, communities, organizations – and the world, Sylvia worked to close educational disparities. Starting in Austin, Texas, Sylvia’s grassroots educational campaigns scaled across the nation, distributing over a quarter of a million books, providing more than 11,000 eyeglasses, 25,000 dental kits, 20,000 sports balls, and reaching millions of parents of school aged children with the resources that they needed to support their children’s educational journey.

The White House took notice and in 2010, President Barack Obama appointed Sylvia to be a White House Education Commissioner where she chaired the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanics in early childhood. She is credited as the key driver of the Administration’s Early Childhood Dual Language Education Policy. Also in 2010, the Government of Mexico awarded Acevedo, the Ohtli Award, their highest Civil Rights honor for a non Mexican citizen for her work in parental engagement in education in the USA.

To inspire the rising generation of students to live a life of their potential, Sylvia authored, the best selling middle school memoir, Path to the Stars: My Journey from Girl Scout to Rocket Scientist. (Camino a las Estrellas in Spanish.)

Sylvia holds a bachelor’s degree with Honors in Industrial Engineering from New Mexico State University. Sylvia is one of the first Hispanics, male or female, to have earned their graduate degree in Engineering from Stanford University. Duke University conferred Sylvia with an Honorary Doctorate of Science in May 2022. Sylvia also received an Honorary Doctorate from Washington College for her STEM national leadership in 2020

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