Manuela Vitiello

Business leader, Business mentor, Connector, Consultant, Entrepreneur, Parent

I'm an organizational consultant and executive mentor based in Florianópolis, Brazil, where I've lived for over 20 years. After 12 years leading regional operations at Telefônica/Vivo, I co-founded The Grid, a strategic people consultancy certified as a B Corp, and today I work across borders — from Brazilian creative agencies to New York tech companies — helping organizations build the human side of their business with the same rigor they apply to everything else. I also created Fluir, a mentoring methodology for executives navigating career transitions, inspired by the movement of rivers: sometimes you need to find your current, sometimes you need to carve a new path. I've spent two decades learning that the most strategic thing a company can do is understand its people — and the most strategic thing a person can do is understand themselves. Above all, I'm a daughter, a mom of two beautiful and one-of-a-kind boys, and a friend — someone who believes life is about creating and living experiences that truly mean something.

People, in every form that takes: mentoring executives through career crossroads, building healthy organizations, and creating spaces where ideas can travel. I'm passionate about my city, Florianópolis, and its potential as a stage for big conversations. Off the clock, I make cold process soap by hand (chemistry meets craft), I'm an avid reader, and I love everything about technology. I believe curiosity doesn't need to be useful to be worthwhile.

Identity is not something you find — it's something you build, question, and rebuild throughout your life. We treat identity as a fixed answer ("who am I?") when it's actually a living practice ("who am I becoming?"). In a world where algorithms tell us who we are before we've had the chance to decide, reclaiming the authorship of our own identity — as individuals, as communities, as cities — might be the most urgent conversation of our time. That's the idea behind TEDxFloripa: Identidade.

My TED story began backstage. I worked across four editions of TEDxAmazônia, watching ideas move audiences in one of the most symbolically powerful places on Earth. That experience taught me that a TEDx event is not a conference — it's an act of care: for speakers, for ideas, for the community that receives them. That path led me to the TED Countdown House, working alongside the TED Global team during COP30 — witnessing up close how ideas can shape the world's most urgent conversations. In 2026, I received the license for TEDxFloripa. Now I'm building an event around the theme "Identidade" — an invitation for my city to look at itself, ask who it is, and imagine who it can become. From the Amazon to the island: same red circle, new chapter.

Making things with my hands and bringing people together. I make cold process soap from scratch — slow chemistry that teaches you patience and trust in the process. I'm also a genuinely good cook, the person friends call when they want a party that people actually remember, and — my proudest hidden talent — an excellent matchmaker. More than one happy couple exists because I decided two people needed to meet. Connection, it turns out, is my thing: in boardrooms, at dinner tables, and everywhere in between.