Maria Cardona on Empowerment, Visibility, and the Power of Community at the ISSA VEO Gala

When Maria Cardona took the stage at the VEO Gala, she didn't waste a moment connecting heart to purpose: "I love, love, love the theme of the conference. Visión, Empeño y Oportunidad. Vision, Resolve, and Opportunity. Mi gente, that is amazing!"

From her first words, The Dewey Square Group principal made clear that this was more than a keynote-it was a celebration of identity, achievement, and the future of Latino leadership within the cleaning industry and beyond.

Seeing greatness in every face

As she looked out over the room, Cardona described what she saw: "Yo veo a room and an industry full of grit. Yo veo a community that embodies grace. Yo veo resilience in every face in this industry. And yes, yo veo nothing less than greatness."

The crowd responded with applause, and Cardona used the moment to shift from celebration to reflection. "Tonight, we gather not just to celebrate that greatness," she said, "but to honor our journey and the work and sacrifice that comes with everything you all in this industry have accomplished."

She reminded the audience of a staggering truth: the Latino community contributes more than a trillion dollars to the U.S. economy annually. "If the Latino population were its own country," she noted, "our GDP would make us the fifth largest economy in the world-larger than the United Kingdom, larger than India, larger than France."

It was a statement both powerful and personal. "Latinos have not only been the backbone of our economy," she said, "but that of the cleaning industry as well. You all have been its brain, its feet, its hands… that scrub, polish, sanitize, revive, and restore."

From essential work to essential opportunity

Cardona didn't let the moment of pride obscure the reality of imbalance. "Over 70% of the cleaning industry workers are Latino," she said. "That's not just a statistic. That's our mothers, fathers, hijos, hijas… that's us."

But then she added a sobering contrast: "Yet only 7% of cleaning company owners are Hispanic. That gap is not just economic. It's a story of missed opportunity, of untapped potential, of dreams deferred-but it's also a story of tremendous possibilities."

That, she explained, is what makes gatherings like the VEO conference so vital. "This conference is about connecting, about leveraging our humanity, sustaining our stories, sharing our values, elevating our experiences, and using all of it for our collective good as well as our individual advancement."

Her message was one of empowerment through unity. Mentorship, training, and collaboration, she said, are the foundation of future leadership. "We will learn from each other, envision new partnerships, lift each other up, and ensure our collective success."

From grit to voice

For Cardona, the story of resilience is also deeply personal. "As an immigrant, my family came to this country when I was two years old," she said. "While we didn't have much, my parents always taught me that what we did have was a voice-and that silence was never an option."

She recalled her parents' example-how they invited neighbors to experience Colombian music, food, and tradition, turning their home into a space for cultural connection. "So much of what I learned from my parents stems from their love of sharing who we were," she said. "What we could offer this amazing, opportunity-filled country and the responsibility that comes with whatever success came our way. We were always expected to pay it forward."

That sense of responsibility shaped her career in politics and media. "I wanted to be in a space where I could speak for others-not because it was easy, but because our community needed a voice," she said. "Someone at the table who understood our story and who could have the pull and the power to tell it the right way."

A collective future built on vision

Cardona's keynote closed as it began-with inspiration, gratitude, and conviction. "Many of us came to this country with little more than grit and hope," she said. "We walked through the doors that were open to us with dignity. We brought our work ethic, our pride, our culture. We turned jobs into livelihoods. We turned struggle into stability. And we helped create an industry and a workforce that this country cannot do without."

Her challenge to the audience was simple but stirring: to transform that same grit into influence. "Now," she declared, "it's time to turn our focus into an indomitable force and a voice impossible to drown out."

In that moment, Maria Cardona's message echoed far beyond the ballroom. It was a reminder that vision, resolve, and opportunity are not just words-they are the story of a people who built, and continue to build, the future.

Interested in shaping the future of VEO?

Consider joining our ISSA VEO Committee to help guide programming and initiatives throughout the year.