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An initiative to get inspired in our leadership journey.
An initiative to get inspired in our leadership journey.
A Reflection on Atabey
A Reflection on Atabey
🌿 Identity, Power, and the Path We Shape 🌿
Over the past one and a half years, I endured an experience no one should ever face—an attempt to erase my voice, distort the truth, and undermine the values I represent. Yet today, I feel a shift. The noise is fading. The truth is surfacing. And with it, a deeper clarity about who I am and what I stand for.
As a founder, I chose a name that carries ancestral weight, honoring Atabey, the Taíno goddess of fertility, freshwater, and the Earth. She symbolizes not passivity or submission, but power, creation for good, and sovereignty. I named my company after her, not only to reclaim a legacy often forgotten, but to assert a relevant narrative: that women lead, build, and protect.
I am not just a professional or a business leader. I am a representative of my culture, my family, the institutions I serve, an inclusive and modern social structure, and a long line of women who fought—silently and aloud—for the right to exist, to lead, and to thrive.
My heritage is Dominican. My ancestry is mixed: African, Spanish, and Taíno. My identity is an amalgam of histories, purpose, and ideas—and it is my responsibility to protect it and share it through my life and the societal impact I wish to make.
In a world of noise, our story is our power.
When we live in alignment with our values, our present becomes a reflection of our ideals, and our future, a declaration of freedom. If we fail to guard our inner compass, we risk fading into a future that does not belong to us.
To anyone navigating challenges: steer your destiny like it’s a matter of life or death. Because it is. Let your actions protect your truth, your values, and your voice. That is how we build peace, preserve freedom, and share love.
Taíno Proverb:
“Guakia baba, guakia huracán.”
“We are the spirit, we are the wind.”
Let us be the wind that brings renewal, not destruction.
Let us carry the stories of our people with dignity and strength.
And let us build a world where no one is forced to diminish themselves to survive.
With peace, freedom, and love,
Dr. Johanny A. Pestalozzi
Founder & CEO, AtabeyX Ventures
July 7, 2025
- A Reflection -
Women at Work: A Decade of Progress and the Road Ahead
Women at Work: A Decade of Progress and the Road Ahead
Are you passionate about gender equity and ready to make real change in the workplace? Join us for an interactive discussion group focused on the Women in the Workplace 2024 report. As we reflect on the 10th-anniversary of this comprehensive study conducted by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company, we’ll dive into the latest insights on women’s progress—and the challenges still ahead. Learn more and sign up here (New date TBD).
Workshop on Female Leadership
Workshop on Female Leadership
The group agreed that we need to be sensible of different personality types and the various leadership styles that emerge from this. Women face critical barriers, especially due to traditional mindsets and cultural aspects that perpetuate stereotypes. We need to build sororities that empower and uplift our visions and enable us to move forward as a team. View Details
It was very special to listen to her, a successful female leader in a corporate environment. It inspired me and gave me confidence that despite the challenges I face, and although we may confront different difficulties, e.g., culturally, ideologically, or personality-wise; it is possible for female leaders today, to work for & achieve roles of so much high responsibility in organizations. I thank her & the organizers for this exceptional opportunity! View Details
Networks, Initiatives
& Publications
Networks, Initiatives
& Publications
Female Empowerment in Berlin, The Inner Game of Women CEOs, Reuters: Trailblazing Women 2024, TIME Next Generation Leaders 2024, Advance – Gender Equality in Business, Can salad dressing transform capitalism?, 50 Mujeres Factor de Éxito, Rep. Dominicana, The Forum of Young Global Leaders, World Economic Forum, McKinsey & Co., Women in the Workplace Report 2024, UZH Center for Leadership in the Future of Work, EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™, UBS Female Founder Awards, SEF.WomenAward Finalists, The Top 25 Women Chief Sustainability Officers
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