Keynote SpeakerMaria Conceicao

Few people can captivate audiences with charm alone. Fewer still can inspire them to great heights by telling powerful stories about their own choices, obstacles, failures and triumphs, and point to ways their efforts have led to the tangible enrichment of hundreds of lives. Maria Conceição is one of those people.

She is more than her description: innovator, humanitarian, the first Portuguese woman to summit Everest or trek to the North and South Pole. She’s a philanthropist, a teacher, a mother figure to dozens of successful young people – and a compelling public speaker who elevates her audience as she relates her own incredible journey. In July 2024 Maria became the first Portuguese Women to Summit K2.

Born into poverty, Maria began cleaning toilets. No one would have expected that she would ever rise beyond an early marriage and a life of grueling manual labor. Through sheer force of character, however, she became an elite flight attendant who traveled the world in luxury. Most would have accepted this as a satisfying definition of success, but Maria hadn’t even begun. Her purpose became clear the day she witnessed unspeakable poverty in the slums of Bangladesh, and she vowed to do something, anything, to lift the children she saw living there out of crushing, hopeless circumstances.

Through a series of challenges designed to raise money for these children’s educations, she overcame staggering odds. Never an athlete, she trekked to the North Pole and the South Pole. With no background in mountaineering, she trained for the arduous physical task of climbing Mt. Everest. With incredible endurance and sense of purpose, she learned to swim so she could cross the English Channel, raise money, continue her philanthropic work and work toward her goal: to help transform the lives of others less fortunate.

Recognizing the power of her story, organizations around the world have invited Maria to speak about the trajectory of her life and to encourage others to pursue their own goals and dreams. She has been a keynote speaker at events from small corporate events to audiences in the thousands. She has spoken for the John C. Maxwell annual event, Harvard Alumni and other top-level events in Europe, USA and the Middle East. The result is always the same: a rousing reception by an inspired and grateful audience.

In July 2024 Maria reached the summit of K2 making her the first Portuguese women to reach the summit of two peaks above 8000ft and in October 2024 she summited Puncak Jaya in Indonesia making Marie only the 77th person to complete the Explorers Grand Slam and the first Portugese person to accomplish this.