North Port-Sarasota Area
I believe the most important person you will ever lead is yourself. Global Recognition: 🏆 3X Global Top 100 Thought Leader (2025, 2024 & 2023) 🏆 2026 Top Empowered Woman 🏆 Top 300 Global Excellence Leaders (2025) 🏆 Top Board Director - Fine Arts 🏆 #1 Top 100 Filipinos on LinkedIn (2023) My leadership journey began on the world stage as a Principal Dancer for the internationally acclaimed, multi-awarded Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Co., I performed in 51 countries and 88 cities across the USA — long before I ever held a title. Whether I was balancing on dipping bamboo poles carried by two male dancers in the "Vinta" dance — where one misstep meant we all fell — or navigating high-stakes transitions as a CEO-Emeritus and Founder, I learned that leadership is about Risk Mastery and unwavering trust in your team. Both arenas demand the same thing: A centered leader who thrives when the ground is moving. Leadership in Action: 📍Recognized as a 2025 Top 50 Most Influential Leader on LinkedIn and a 2025 Top Arts Board Director by the International Association of Top Professionals — distinctions that reflect not just a career, but a body of work. 📍Legacy & Governance: Carrying the torch of my grandfather, General Paulino Santos — decorated military general and Philippine National Hero — I serve as a Florida Historical Commissioner and Board Director for The Fine Arts Society of Sarasota, Arts Advocates. • I co-chaired the most successful event in their 57-year history—the Florida Highwaymen Exhibit, which drew 1,000+ residents and art collectors. 📍 Strategic Vision: My career began at La Maison de Cartier on Fifth Avenue, where excellence was the only standard. That foundation led me to found my own global art consultancy — and to a singular mission: empowering professionals and leaders to stop "managing" their days and start becoming the CEOs of their Lives. Today, I bridge the worlds of Arts, Governance, Extreme Sports 🪂, and the intuitive wisdom of our Dogs 🐶 on LinkedIn to deconstruct the many forms of leadership. 𝑯𝒊𝒕 '𝑭𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘' for a 360° perspective on: ✅ Self-Leadership: Lessons from the world stage to the boardroom. ✅ Risk Mastery: Why I still seek the "rapid exit" in life and business. ✅ Legacy Building: Preserving history while fueling the future. Intellectual Property Notice: Maria Cecilia Conder • Strategic Leadership℠ | Maria Cecilia Conder's Art Curation℠, and all associated frameworks are the property of Maria Cecilia Conder. All rights reserved.
It's my honor to be part of the vibrant and transformative Sarasota arts community in Florida through "Arts Advocates," The Fine Arts Society, Inc., which has been a Florida inspiration since 1969. I sincerely appreciate my fellow board members and members for their unwavering commitment, which has significantly enriched our illustrious Sarasota Arts Community. My husband and I were pleased to donate five Original Florida Highwaymen paintings to Arts Advocates, which are now on permanent exhibit at the Arts Advocates Gallery. I invite you to experience our arts community at https://www.artsadvocates.org/about/gallery. I am a member of Impact100SRQ, a nonprofit organization that empowers women to make charitable gifts. Impact100SRQ is part of a global network of sixty chapters, and it annually funds transformational grants to local nonprofits in Sarasota and Manatee Counties. Join us at https://impact100srq.org to be part of this impactful movement. Additionally, I am honored to serve as an Ambassador with the Arts & Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County, a member of the Arts & Planning Association of America's Arts Division, and I now volunteer for Sarasota City's Arts Programs. I am committed to supporting the Philippines, my motherland, through charitable community initiatives by The Top 100 Filipinos, the Philippine Women's University, The Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company (a nonprofit), and the General Paulino Santos Museum dedicated to the heroic legacy of my grandfather, Gen. Paulino Santos, a Philippine national hero and a Medal of Valor recipient, and after whom Gen. Santos City "GenSan" in the Southern Philippines, is named. Gratefully, I continue to serve our impactful Sarasota arts community through "Arts Advocates," The Fine Arts Society, Inc., and various nonprofits in Florida. Do visit our Arts Advocates Gallery at https://www.artsadvocates.org/about/gallery.