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Our Story
From Vision ⇢ Global Impact.
Leadership forged in service.
Gem McCreary arrived at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2011 with an unusual background. A West Point graduate, he had served as a Ranger qualified U.S. Army Officer and AH-64D Attack Helicopter Pilot, a career defined by high-stakes decision making, discipline, and leading teams under extreme pressure. At Chicago Booth, he sought to translate that experience into the language of global business.
After earning his MBA, McCreary joined Citigroup's premier leadership development program, the Global Engagement Management Associate Program (GEMA), where he worked in corporate and investment banking across emerging markets. Fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, he spent the next several years living and working throughout Latin America, primarily in Brazil and Colombia.
From emerging markets to emerging leaders.
While advising multinational corporations and witnessing fast-growing economies firsthand, McCreary noticed a troubling pattern. Again and again, he encountered brilliant young professionals, first-generation university students and high-potential candidates, who had everything required to compete at the world's top institutions except one thing: access.
These future leaders lacked the mentorship, test preparation resources, admissions guidance, and professional networks that their peers in wealthier or better-connected circumstances took for granted. The result was a systemic leak in the talent pipeline. Entire communities across Brazil and Colombia, including Afro-descendant and Indigenous (ADI) populations, were being left behind, not for lack of ability, but for lack of opportunity.
On a mission to find the best talent in the world.
McCreary recognized that elite graduate programs, including MBAs, JDs, LLMs, and other advanced degrees at institutions like Cambridge, UChicago, Harvard, and Stanford, serve as critical gateways to leadership roles in finance, consulting, technology, law, and public service. By helping high-potential young professionals from historically underrepresented communities navigate these gateways, he realized he could do more than change individual lives. He could catalyze a new generation of diverse, principled leaders across Latin America and beyond.
In 2017, he founded TalentoTotal with a dual mission: to dismantle the systemic barriers that block talented professionals from accessing elite education, and to cultivate a generation of leaders who reflect the full diversity and potential of the global economy. Since then, TalentoTotal has grown from a bold idea into an international non-profit organization. Our Fellows have earned admission to the world's most competitive Full-Time MBA and LLM programs, secured life-changing scholarships, and returned to their communities as force multipliers, proving that when you open doors for those with the most potential and the least access, everyone wins.
Our Mission
Global Leadership.
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Access. Preparation. Opportunity.
TalentoTotal is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to building a more competitive and inclusive global leadership landscape. We accelerate the careers of high-potential underrepresented and first- generation young professionals from historically marginalized communities who face systemic barriers to accessing elite education and career pathways.
The mission of TalentoTotal is achieved through coaching, professional development, and leadership training to increase the number of diverse leaders in corporations, law firms, entrepreneurial ventures, non-profit and multinational organizations.
We are a data-driven and values-based organization that collectively leverages our experiences and presence around the world to harness the support, relationships, and resources required to build a thriving leadership pipeline for organizations and communities worldwide. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates who share our commitment to expanding access.
The Next
Generation of Leaders.
Our Values
Built on Integrity.
The TalentoTotal Honor Code
Character before Credentials.
A TalentoTotal Fellow will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.
Triple C’s
The Framework for Excellence.
Competence (Learn) - the ability to do something well
Confidence (Perfect) - the belief that you are able to do things well or be successful
Courage (Act) - the quality that makes you able to do dangerous or difficult things / the quality of being brave
Leadership Principles
Lead by Example. Lift as you Climb.
We believe that empowerment stems from self-awareness and builds upon leading by example and giving back to our communities. Each TalentoTotal Fellow will act as an inspirational force multiplier for their nation and society. TalentoTotal Fellows will go on to provide the purpose, direction, and motivation to inspire the next generation of leaders, particularly those from historically marginalized communities, including Afro-descendant and Indigenous (ADI) populations.
