Learning to Make Space
For Mariana del Carmen, leadership began long before she entered the corporate world.
As a young person at MAD Leadership Foundation, she gradually found the confidence to take on leadership roles after years of quietly listening at MAD summits. One particular moment would later become an important lesson in how she wanted to lead.
During a group exercise, Mariana received anonymous feedback that she could make more space for people who did not often speak up. Her first reaction was disappointment. After working hard to find her own voice, it felt as though she was being asked to step back again.
But she began to see the feedback differently.
It taught her that finding your voice as a leader does not mean taking up all the space. Leadership also means noticing who has not spoken, listening carefully and making room for others to contribute.
That lesson has stayed with Mariana as her career has developed across music, events and film.
After seven years as a freelancer, where she had to take full responsibility and initiative for her work, she moved into her first corporate position as a talent coordinator. Within a month, she had led a full rebrand of the festival, developed a new brand identity and begun working on the wider company’s brand. She also took on the leadership of a team of graphic designers while helping reinvent a 23-year-old legacy brand.
Six months later, she was leading the talent department as its lead curator.
Today, Mariana is Head of Talent & Curation at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, bringing her experience in music, events and creative production into a role that combines curation, leadership and her commitment to the stories she believes deserve greater visibility.
Her work in the arts has consistently centred narratives of women and marginalised groups. Alongside her professional work, she is also a founding member of AH Com (Ad Hoc Committee) and Transformative Justice in Music, two initiatives focused on improving conditions and addressing harm within the music industry.
For Mariana, the next stage of leadership is not simply about having a stronger voice. It is about using that voice while continuing to hear the voices around her. The lesson she took from MAD remains with her:
Lead with love and be led by love.
Her journey reflects something at the heart of the MAD experience: confidence and consideration do not have to compete. A leader can step forward while still making space for others to step forward too.
View Mariana’s shortlisted film with PhotoVogue Women: https://bit.ly/PhotoVogueWomen
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