Laika De los Santos - Head of Integrated Marketing, XPRIZE Water Scarcity │ Influential Women

About Laika

Laika De los Santos serves as Marketing Program Manager at XPRIZE, a nonprofit organization that develops and runs large incentive prizes aimed at benefiting the Earth and driving global change. In her role, she manages marketing for various prizes, including the XPRIZE Water Scarcity initiative, which seeks to make seawater desalination more reliable, affordable, and sustainable by reducing environmental impacts such as carbon footprint and brine circulation effects on marine life. Her professional journey began with studies in public relations and advertising, followed by internships in agencies and work in the beauty industry at Dermalogica, where she launched products internationally for both consumer and professional lines and contributed to the FITE program supporting estheticians in developing business skills. She also founded an eco-friendly nail boutique targeted at pregnant women in the Manhattan Beach area. Passionate about sustainability and social impact, Santos draws inspiration from her family's involvement in nonprofits and continues to seek opportunities to learn from experts across domains such as food, water, and waste while shaping future competitions.

Ten minutes with Laika

01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

The best career advice is similar along that path in the sense of like. The advice was, just because I'm in marketing, it doesn't mean I need to stick with the marketing route. That I could find inspiration and ideas and thoughts and creative solutions through every aspect of my life. And so, really, the advice was to just Get involved in anything that drives interest in me, either it be my community or a sport, and continue to, like, have conversations and be open about conversations. Because you really don't know where, that creative inspiration is going to drive from.

02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

I would say go with the mindset of yes and, and Just take every opportunity, and even if it's not an opportunity for you to do something specific, like, be present in the room, listen to all the other smarter people in the room above you, and like, you know, be part of that. Be present in that.