Green rolling hills and cliffs with fog and sunrise in background.

Ready to Support Your Journey

At Destino Strategy Consulting, we partner with organizations at the moments that matter most: when you're setting a new direction, navigating a transition, or building the capacity to carry your vision forward.

"Destino" means both destination and destiny in Spanish. That's the heart of what we do. We help leaders get clear about where they're going and confident about how to get where they’re meant to be.

We bring a collaborative, grounded approach that engage leadership, staff, and community voices so that strategies don’t just look good on paper, but truly owned by the people who live it. We don't just deliver plans. We help you:

  • Make decisions with clarity

  • Align your team around shared goals

  • Build the structure to follow through

In other words, we don't just help you plan for the future. We help you build the capacity to move toward it.

About Our Founder & CEO

María A. Fernández, Ed.M. (she/ella)

an image of our Founder and CEO, Maria Fernandez (long brown hair, smiling) with a green background in a garden, an orange satin blouse and an orange, beiges, and brown scarf.

Welcome! I’m glad you’re here.

I've spent nearly three decades doing one thing in lots of different ways: helping leaders move from a big vision to real, lasting impact. That's been the through-line whether I was running a regional community schools initiative in the San Francisco Bay Area, leading capacity building programs at a regional foundation, or training hundreds of education leaders a year across the country at a large national education nonprofit.

What I've learned along the way is that organizations rarely get stuck because they lack ideas. They get stuck because they need a thought partner who can help them cut through complexity, align their team, and build the structures to follow through. That's the work I love, and that's why I built Destino.

I partner with nonprofit, coalition, philanthropic, public, and purpose-driven business leaders on strategy, governance, leadership development, and organizational strengthening. My clients often describe me as thoughtful, well-prepared, and deeply responsive. But what I hope they feel and often hear is that they have someone in their corner, asking the right questions, and helping them get clear about what comes next.

A little more about me: I'm originally from Los Angeles, lived nearly 17 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, and have called San Antonio home for the past 14 years. I'm bilingual and biliterate in English and Spanish, and I design every engagement to be culturally responsive and grounded in the realities of the communities organizations serve. I hold a bachelor's degree from Stanford University, a master's from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and certifications in Nonprofit Board Consulting from BoardSource® and Diversity & Inclusion from Cornell University.

When I'm not working with clients, you'll likely find me deep in a science fiction novel or trading book recommendations with my husband and two kids. Our summer reading club at home with our two dogs listening in is one of my favorite traditions!

Our Collaborators

We partner with a vetted network of trusted consultants to build the right team for each engagement. Each collaborator brings deep expertise and a shared commitment to delivering high-quality services.

We are also happy to recommend each of our great collaborators for direct partnership, depending on your needs.

Let's Connect!