Illianna Acosta is the former Global Co- Chair of LinkedIn’s Hispanic ERG, a member of the National Board of the 100 Hispanic Women Organization, the Co-President of the Cornell Johnson School NY Alumni Organization, a Global Speaker, and author of Lost In Translation, a newsletter focused on highlighting challenges and limitations for historically excluded groups, with experiences that have shaped who they are on how they show up in their personal and professional lives. She is a change-agent, thought-leader, and has a unique approach into helping organizations empower their teams to drive maximum output and positive performance.

Illianna Acosta is no stranger to community-building. Her leadership with ERGs, with a focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, goes hand-in-hand to help people and organizations amplify their connection to community, leadership and belonging. With an infectious positive perspective, confidence, compassion and layered high-energy, Illianna draws inspiration from humble beginnings that taught her a great deal about choosing a future outside of what she saw in front of her.

With 20 years of experience in Tech, partnerships, and sales, her work as always focused on accelerating innovation, revenue, and customer growth, while maintaining a human-centric approach to the business.

As a speaker and subject matter expert in the art of showing up, she not only knows how to connect with a crowd, but she also elevates them to visualize their potential. With crowd pleasing topics such as “No longer a seat warmer” and “You’re an ERG Leader, Now What?”, "Leveraging your Authenticity to get ahead," amongst others,

she captivates audiences and takes them on a journey to owning their voice, embracing their superpower, and building positive, inclusive, and motivated teams.

“I engage willingly in the work that it takes to create long term, sustainable change so that future generations never have to feel or go through the same things I experienced in life and in my career.“

Though grateful to have the opportunity to work in corporate America, she faced challenges and at times felt alienated, tokenized, or excluded.
It was imperative to find her way, voice, and the support that would lead her to feel empowered enough to show up as herself. Joining LinkedIn was the first corporate experience where Illianna saw others that looked like her and spoke her language. A master in the art of making something out of nothing, she saw opportunities to make a difference. “I saw that I could help create psychologically safe spaces - places where people felt a sense of community and belonging, and where someone could feel empowered to do good work and be a part of something bigger than we could imagine.”