Daniela González starts her day with a triple shot of espresso over ice. Perhaps that’s where she gets the energy required to be bold and daring.
She’s thriving as a project manager for board excellence at Nasdaq, where she works in collaboration with Nasdaq’s board recruitment and composition planning partners to support Nasdaq-listed companies in their search for highly qualified, diverse, board-ready candidates. González, however, didn’t land in the role without learning how to navigate and overcome challenges.
“The greatest challenge was discovering a role and industry that personally fulfilled me,” González notes. “I found myself unsettled when the career path I previously planned had not provided a greater sense of meaning and I knew I needed to make a deliberate change.”
She leaned on mentors for advice and read two books that drove her to construct a plan to pivot her trajectory and establish a newfound sense of purpose. Those books? Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter—And How to Make the Most of Them by Meg Jay and Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. The important exercise led González to where she is today.
At Nasdaq, she also contributes to the efforts of the Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence, a convener and inclusive community of board members, executive leaders, educators, and knowledge-seekers across organizations, industries, and regions that advance board excellence through community, content, and collaboration.
Outside of work, González serves on the board of NorthStar Tutoring, a nonprofit mentorship program for students from kindergarten through twelfth grade, and she previously served on the board of Prospanica San Francisco, a nonprofit that works to empower Hispanic professionals to reach their full educational and economic potential.
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