Media Contact & Press Kit

Official Bio

 

Khalia Stokes, CEC, CCC, CBC is a Certified Executive Leadership Coach, Strategy Consultant, author, speaker, and founder of Khalia Stokes Consulting, where she helps individuals, leaders, and organizations lead with greater clarity, confidence, strategy, and purpose. With a Bachelor of Science in Business with a concentration in Accounting and Finance from Eastern University, Khalia brings together a unique blend of financial operations leadership, executive coaching, workforce development, personal transformation, and strategic planning.

 

Khalia’s work is grounded in one core belief: lead yourself first so you can lead others better. Through her signature Lead from the Root framework, she helps leaders and teams examine what is happening beneath the surface, strengthen self-leadership, sharpen their mindset, navigate conflict, communicate with greater intention, and take aligned action toward meaningful growth. Her coaching is both practical and deeply reflective, blending strategic blueprinting with soul-deep development to help clients transform not only what they do, but who they are becoming in the process.

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With more than a decade of experience in finance, operations, program management, and people leadership, Khalia understands what it means to lead in complex organizational environments. In her corporate leadership role, she oversees high-volume financial programs, leads team development, supports process improvement, and partners with executive leaders, internal stakeholders, and external partners to solve problems and strengthen organizational outcomes. This experience gives her coaching and consulting work a grounded, real-world perspective that resonates with leaders navigating both personal growth and business demands.

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Through Khalia Stokes Consulting, Khalia partners with corporate professionals, nonprofit leaders, entrepreneurs, emerging leaders, and change agents who are launching new initiatives, leading teams, preparing for their next level of growth, or seeking to align their purpose with bold execution. Her areas of focus include executive coaching, leadership development, team development, personal branding, communication, growth mindset, conflict navigation, strategy consulting, and professional transformation.

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Khalia also serves as a Career Coach and Learning and Development Facilitator with The Skills Initiative, where she designs and facilitates workforce development and professional readiness programs for youth and adults. She has completed hundreds of coaching sessions while managing multiple program participants across workforce development programs, supporting individuals pursuing career advancement with organizations such as Penn Medicine, SEPTA, the Navy Yard, and other workforce partners. Her facilitation topics include growth mindset, communication, effective feedback, customer service, personal branding, workplace readiness, conflict resolution, professional presence, interview preparation, financial budgeting, and navigating workplace expectations.

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In addition to her consulting and coaching work, Khalia is the founder of Dreams To Founder, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing equitable access to professional development, transformational coaching, mentorship, and spiritual guidance. Through Dreams To Founder, Khalia works to remove barriers that often prevent individuals in low- to middle-income communities from accessing the knowledge, resources, and opportunities needed to grow. Her belief is simple but powerful: we cannot be selfish with our knowledge and resources — we must share, educate, and serve so people and communities can flourish.

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Khalia is also an advisory board member for Eastern University’s College of Business and Leadership and Prince George’s Community College’s Business and Entrepreneurship Department, where she supports academic excellence, workforce alignment, curriculum development, entrepreneurship education, and student success. She is passionate about helping students and adults understand that building the life they want does not have to wait for a future season; they can begin identifying their gifts, developing their leadership, and creating impact now.

 

As a speaker and author, Khalia has inspired thousands of people in individual, group, conference, classroom, corporate, and community settings. She is the author of Cheers to the Fall and the Purpose of it All, a book that uses storytelling to challenge readers to shift their perspective on pain and struggle, develop a growth mindset, ignite their faith, pursue meaningful work, and live with purpose. She has been featured in Real Simple magazine, FOX 29, iHeartRadio, the LA Times Festival of Books, and other media outlets, and she has shared encouragement and insight through The I’ve Changed My Mind Podcast.

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Khalia has a deep passion for helping people reclaim who they are, lead from a grounded place, and understand that leadership is not simply about titles — it is about developing people first. Whether she is coaching executives, facilitating workforce development programs, advising academic institutions, speaking to students, or building community through her nonprofit, Khalia’s mission remains the same: to help people see themselves more clearly, choose themselves fully, and take courageous action toward the life and leadership they were created for.

 

Khalia lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, Rich, and their two sons, Karter and Jaxon. When she is not coaching, consulting, speaking, or creating, she can often be found on the baseball field cheering on her boys, traveling, caring for her plants, or making lasting memories with her family.