Liana Downey Motivational Speaker from New York City, NY

Liana Downey is an internationally acclaimed speaker, strategic advisor and author dedicated to creating social change. Her informative, humorous and engaging talks focus on delivering what defines success for your event. Are you seeking to motivate your team? Energize them? Leave them with a plan of action to shake things up? Liana works with you to tailor a program that meets your needs. One of Liana's most popular presentation is about Focus. Your audience will leave energized, motivate and with a clear plan to help them focus at the intersection of what the world needs, what works and what they are good at. Here's what some people are saying: "Liana has the warmth and directness to immediately engage an audience and the intellect and passion to take them somewhere they will remember. Liana's natural and approachable style pair powerfully with her depth of experience and skills to make her a remarkable speaker." Jules Flynn, CEO Citibike NYC "I have had the pleasure of watching Liana present in variety of settings - from small group facilitation to presenting to hundreds of seasoned executives. She is a highly articulate, compelling and engaging presenter. She invests time in understanding her audience, tailoring her material, and creates warm, vibrant and inclusive discussions. I would have no hesitation recommending her for your next meeting or event." Dr. James Slezak, Director of Strategy, New York Times "Liana is a rare talent, she's a wonderfully warm and personable speaker, using her real life experiences to create genuine positive change in both corporate and charitable organizations." Giovanni Donaldson, Managing Director, Sinergia Capital Limited, "I have had the pleasure of seeing Liana speak many times to public audiences, big and small, and as a trainer. Whether it is conveying complex messages in a simple and understandable fashion or motivating a team to rise to their best, she is confident and likeable, and with a skill for relating to a variety of different audiences. Over the many years that I have known her, Liana has managed to weave her personal growth and experiences into her public speaking, tailoring it to the objectives of the meeting rather than delivering the same threadworn jokes that many other speakers do. I have no hesitation in recommending her." Matthew Wai-Poi, Senior Economist, Poverty Global Practice, World Bank; Senior Advisor and Socio-economic Policy Director at Ideas Indonesia As the CEO of Liana Downey & Associates, Liana leads a high performing global team that helps leaders increase focus and change lives. Clients include social enterprises, non profits and federal, state and city governments, such as Speak up Africa, Community Solutions, the Nature Conservancy and the NYC Education Department. Liana is the author of Mission Control: How Nonprofits and Governments Can Focus, Achieve More and Change the World (Bibliomotion, 2016). Previously, led the Australian social and public sector practices of McKinsey & Company and was an Expert Advisor to the Australian Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. She has also worked as a commercial adviser on international gas pipeline negotations, and as a national director for a large e-commerce store. Liana holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business (Arjay Miller Scholar) and serves on the National and New York Boards of Room to Grow, an innovative nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of families living with poverty.