I spent years inside the system.
As a Management Consultant, Leadership Development Specialist and Director of the IDEA Center for Inclusive Leadership at the U.S. Department of State, I designed the programs that shaped leaders in predominantly white institutions.
I knew the frameworks. I understood the competency models. I saw how organizational decisions really got made.
But I also saw something else: The talented Black leaders in these programs—leaders who were brilliant, strategic, and delivering exceptional results—were being promoted at half the rate of their white peers.
Not because they lacked skills.
Not because they lacked performance.
Because they lacked the organizational playbook no one was teaching them.
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I watched as these leaders:
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Navigated constant microaggressions without a strategic framework
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Code-switched so extensively they lost connection to themselves
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Excelled in every metric yet got passed over for promotion - Received feedback to be more "executive" (which really meant "more white")
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Exhausted themselves proving worth while less qualified colleagues advanced
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And I realized: Traditional leadership development wasn't designed for them.
So I left. I left to work directly with the leaders who needed strategic coaching most—Black executives navigating predominantly white institutions.
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Today, I'm the founder of Jefferson Leadership.
I work exclusively with Black executives (VP to C-suite) who are done waiting for their organizations to "do better" and ready to build undeniable influence on their own terms.
I bring a unique combination:
Insider knowledge of how PWIs actually work - As former Director within the State Department, I've seen how decisions really get made, how politics and diplomacy function behind closed doors, and which unspoken rules determine who advances.
Lived experience as a Leader of Color - I don't just study these challenges academically. I've navigated them. I understand the exhaustion of code-switching, the calculation behind every response to microaggressions, the isolation of being "the only."
This dual perspective—organizational systems expertise + authentic lived experience—is what makes my approach different.
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My Approach: Strategic Partnership for Advancement
→ I don't offer generic leadership coaching.
→ I don't focus on "finding your authentic self."
→ I don't waste time on theory.
Together, we:
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→ Decode your organization's actual power structure (not the org chart)
→ Develop your playbook for navigating microaggressions strategically
→ Build your influence independent of your company's DEI commitment
→ Map your advancement path—and execute in 12-18 months, not 5 years
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This work is practical, customized, and results-focused. My clients get promoted. They increase their compensation—often by $75K to $150K+. They build sustainable influence without exhausting code-switching or losing themselves.
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This work matters because: Every Black executive who advances opens doors for others. Every leader who refuses to define themselves by the traditional definitions and models of a leadership redefines what "executive presence" means.
Every promotion challenges the system that said you needed to be twice as good for half as far. But my primary commitment isn't to "changing systems." It's to YOU—getting you promoted, paid, and positioned for the influence you've earned.
Ready to stop proving yourself and start owning your power?