Jose Pereira to Speak at 2025 World Resilience Summit on Leadership, Resilience, and Hostage Diplomacy

Invited by the Resilience Centre, Pereira brings a rare lens shaped by lived captivity, global leadership, and a mission to end hostage diplomacy.

HOUSTON, TX, UNITED STATES, April 22, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Jose Pereira, international keynote speaker, founder of JoseConnect.com, former international hostage (CITGO6), and former CEO of CITGO Petroleum, will deliver a featured talk at the 2025 World Resilience Summit, taking place April 26–28, 2025. He was invited to the summit by the Resilience Centre, founded by Lama Tantrapa and Ane Viuf-Herseth. Pereira’s talk will focus on his lived experience with hostage diplomacy and the unshakable leadership and resilience that emerged from it. Pereira's story serves as a powerful reminder of the human spirit’s capacity to endure, transform, and lead through even the most harrowing adversity. In addition to his live appearance, those looking to continue the conversation beyond the summit can find additional resources at JoseConnect.com, including coaching insights and leadership tools developed from his international experience and personal transformation.

Pereira, who spent five years as a hostage in Venezuela as part of the CITGO6, will connect with summit attendees on both personal and professional levels. His talk, titled “Battling Hostage Diplomacy, Leadership, and Resilience,” draws from the harrowing experience detailed in his bestselling memoir, From Hero to Villain: My True Story of the CITGO6. Through his journey of wrongful detention, Pereira forged powerful principles of leadership, personal strength, and global advocacy, insights he now shares to inspire and empower others.

From Pereira’s perspective, resilience is more than endurance, it’s the ability to reclaim purpose and lead with clarity after unimaginable adversity. During his captivity, resilience became his lifeline, forged not in comfort but in isolation, uncertainty, and injustice. Hostage diplomacy is a cruel tactic that weaponizes human lives for political leverage, yet Pereira believes it also reveals the unbreakable human spirit. His mission is to not only advocate for those still silenced but to help others transform their own trials into leadership and strength.

“Resilience isn’t just something we develop during hardship, it’s the foundation that allows us to lead others through adversity,” said Pereira. “I look forward to sharing not only what I endured during my captivity, but also the leadership framework I built as a result of that experience.”

Based in Houston, Pereira is a sought-after speaker who has appeared before the U.S. Congress, the United Nations General Assembly, and on global platforms including CNN, ABC, NBC, Forbes, Fox, Univision, and NPR. His bestselling memoir, From Hero to Villain: The True Story of the CITGO6, has become a powerful voice for the unheard and a call to action against the use of human lives as political pawns.

His mission today is twofold: to end hostage diplomacy and to empower others with the tools of embodied resilience and leadership forged under unimaginable pressure.

The 2025 World Resilience Summit is proudly presented by the Resilience Centre, founded by Lama Tantrapa and Ane Viuf-Herseth. “I’m honored to be invited by Lama Tantrapa, founder of the Resilience Centre, to speak at the World Resilience Summit,” said Pereira. “Their work in cultivating embodied resilience aligns closely with my mission to transform adversity into strength and unshakable leadership. It’s a privilege to share my story among others dedicated to empowering individuals and communities through resilience.”

About Jose Pereira
Jose Pereira is an international keynote speaker, bestselling author, and leadership and resilience coach. With more than 35 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, he served as CEO of CITGO Petroleum before being wrongfully detained in Venezuela. Today, he is a global advocate for ending hostage diplomacy and a leadership mentor focused on empowering CEOs, entrepreneurs, and changemakers. Pereira has spoken at global institutions and offers a free leadership masterclass on his YouTube channel, titled How to Become a Leader of Your Business and of Your Life.
Connect with him and access his work at www.joseconnect.com.

About the World Resilience Summit
The World Resilience Summit is an annual global event founded by Lama Tantrapa and Ane Viuf-Herseth through the Resilience Centre. Held around World Tai Chi & Qigong Day, the summit brings together thought leaders, experts, and practitioners to promote embodied resilience across personal, organizational, and global domains. The event provides practical, evidence-based tools to help individuals and organizations thrive in the face of uncertainty. Findout more about thier owrk at www.resiliencesummit.org.

About Lama Tantrapa
Lama Tantrapa is the lineage holder of Qi Dao and a pioneering voice in Qigong Coaching. As founder of the Resilience Centre and creator of the World Resilience Summit, his life’s work, The Art of Being in the Flow, integrates ancient wisdom and modern science to help individuals embody resilience, manifest abundance, and lead with vitality and purpose.

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