Maria Sastre is the President and CEO of Take Stock in Children, a premier, award-winning Non- profit organization that provides mentors, student services and college scholarships for Florida’s most underserved, at-risk youth. Joining the organization in January of 2009, Ms. Sastre leads the organization in collaborating with local partners, local program leadership, staff members and other key stakeholders to advance the organization’s mission of providing equal educational opportunities to all of Florida’s children, despite their socio-economic status.
Prior to joining Take Stock in Children, Ms. Sastre served as the President & CEO of Maria Sastre & Associates, Global Hospitality & Destination Advisors, with over 25 years of corporate executive experience and successful accomplishments in the transportation, tourism and hospitality fields. She has strong management expertise encompassing the full range of experience from explosive growth to operational restructuring, and from strategic brand development to the consumer brand experience.
Prior to establishing her advisory firm, Maria held several high level officer positions during her nine year tenure at Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD. She was Vice President, International, Latin America, Caribbean & Asia, for Azamara Cruises, Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean International. Her responsibilities entailed the strategic development and growth of all international markets in her regions, as well as marketing, branding, consumer insights, and sales initiatives for the same.
She was also Vice President- Hotel Operations and Vice President- Total Guest Satisfaction, Royal Caribbean International. While in Hotel Operations, Ms. Sastre oversaw all aspects of the guest experience and customer service onboard Royal Caribbean’s fleet of 18 vessels with over 25,000 employees. Ms. Sastre joined Royal Caribbean International after serving as Vice President of Worldwide Customer Satisfaction for United Airlines. She led the newly created customer satisfaction division charged with refining the customer service experience. Ms. Sastre joined United in 1992, and held numerous positions including Director of International Planning for Asia, Europe and Latin America. In 1995, she was promoted to Vice President for Latin America & Caribbean Operations, which included Latin America, the Caribbean and Miami.
Ms. Sastre also served as Senior Director of Distribution at Continental Airlines, where she began in 1989. Prior to that, she held a variety of managerial positions in Accounting, Finance, Technology, Marketing, International Operations, and Sales at Eastern Airlines from 1976 through 1989.
Ms. Sastre is an experienced and esteemed public and private company Board Director. Ms. Sastre’s professional affiliations include serving on the Board of Directors of Darden Restaurants (parent of Red Lobster, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, Longhorn Steakhouse, and Capital Grille) and Publix Supermarkets, Inc. Ms. Sastre currently chairs the Finance Committee for Darden, and serves on the Audit Committees of both Darden and Publix Supermarkets, and she currently serves on the Governance Committee at Publix and chairs the Finance Committee of Darden Restaurants. Ms. Sastre also served on the Board of Laidlaw International until its sale in 2007.
Ms. Sastre’s other professional affiliations include non-profit boards and has served as Chairwoman for the Board of Directors of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, and is currently immediate past chair of their Executive Board. Ms. Sastre is on the Executive Advisory Board of Florida International University’s School of Hospitality, and is also a Trustee of United Way of Miami-Dade County, having served on their Executive Board, and a member of WEL (Women Executive Leadership Council). She is also currently on the board of the United States Travel Association. Ms. Sastre has also served on the Executive Boards of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, New World Symphony and the Beacon Council.
Ms. Sastre’s education includes an Associates Degree in Accounting from Miami-Dade College, a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and a Masters in Business Administration, both from the New York Institute of Technology.
She has been recognized as one of the Top 25 US-Hispanics in the United States, Top 20 Latinas, and has received numerous awards in the Travel & Hospitality industry sectors, as well as South Florida CEO Top Power Influencers in 2007, Miami Dade College Hall of Fame 2006, and International Women in Business, South Florida, 2006.
Ms. Sastre is married, and has one son, a daughter-in-law and a granddaughter. She resides in Coral Gables, Florida.