"Mindfulness transforms lives."

Maria Gonzalez is founder and President of Argonauta Strategic Alliances Consulting Inc. The company works in the private and public sectors, and has worked with more than 70 alliances around the world. Ms. Gonzalez helps her clients to create strategic alignment and to develop strong organizational governance in order to create alliance success.

Both Argonauta and its clients have enjoyed success thanks to the unique ability of Ms. Gonzalez to apply Mindfulness to all aspects of her day. That’s because 17 years ago, she began studying Mindfulness Meditation, and quickly recognized its application to every aspect of business and life.

Six years ago, Ms. Gonzalez began teaching Mindfulness Meditation and focuses her work primarily on the corporate world and its leaders, understanding that this ultimately impacts entire organizations.She coaches executives and professionals throughout North America, on a one-on-one basis, teaching them how and why to be mindful.She also teaches classes for larger groups, conducts workshops and retreats, as well as leading custom-designed Mindfulness programs for organizations.

By incorporating Mindfulness in her day-to-day work at Argonauta Consulting, Ms. Gonzalez has quickly grown her company.

“Argonauta Consulting has benefited greatly because mindfulness is the way in which I do business, from developing business strategy for companies, to creating alliances, negotiating deals and assessing organizational governance,” Ms. Gonzalez explained. “Statistics show that over 70% of alliances fail, and this number has been consistent for nearly two decades. By applying mindfulness to the alliance process, I experience consistent success.”

The company focuses on external and internal partnerships, bringing together independent organizations, including mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures, as well as creating alliances between business units in large organizations. Additionally, she works with senior executives to develop strategic thinking and identify market opportunities, through structured and facilitated strategy sessions, executive retreats, and one-on-one-coaching.

Prior to creating Argonauta, Ms. Gonzalez was the executive responsible for Strategic Alliances at BMO Financial Group in Toronto. She created and led the Strategic Alliances Centre of Excellence, which was responsible for all of the Bank’s external partnerships worldwide, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and technology transfers.Under her leadership the Bank received numerous awards and recognition for Strategic Alliances from such organizations as the Conference Board of Canada and the Corporate Executive Board (an influential Washington-based research group).

She has taught in the MBA, B.Com. and C.A. Programs at McGill University and has conducted Executive Development Programs at the Faculty of Management’s Executive Institute. Ms. Gonzalez is a frequent speaker and presenter at conferences in Canada, the U.S. and Europe and has published articles in the McKinsey Quarterly, the Journal of Business Strategy and the Ivey Business Journal, and is a regular contributor to HEART Business Journal for Women. 

She has served as a member of the Corporate Advisory Board for the Harvard Medical School - MacArthur Foundation study on depression and workplace performance; on the Government of Ontario System Design & Integration Sub-Committee of the Mental Health Implementation Task Force. She does considerable philanthropic work and has served on various boards, including most recently, the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, and the McGill University Desautels Faculty of Management Advisory Board and the MBA Advisory Board.

She is Vice-Chair and a founding member of the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health.

Ms. Gonzalez holds MBA and B.Com. Degrees from McGill University.

By applying Mindfulness Meditation to her own business, Argonauta Consulting has experienced a consistent rate of success.

By teaching Mindfulness Meditation to other business leaders, Maria Gonzalez has also had a profound impact on their personal and professional lives.

You can read about business success stories showing how business leaders transformed their lives through Mindfulness training on the Testimonials page.