Hi, Y’all!
My name is Kelli (she/her). I am part social justice warrior, part woo-woo.
I am a certified professional coach, facilitator, and strategist for Black women leading in white spaces. In addition to coaching, I work with organizations truly committed to justice for Black women by providing leadership assessments, facilitation, and philanthropic advising.
I have led in the social sector for over twenty-five years. Can you say OG?!
I spent too much time in those sectors contorting my leadership to be ‘successful.’ It left me frustrated and exhausted. I started by unpacking everything I thought I knew about being a leader. Every day I am unlearning and rebuilding how I lead. I am a work in progress aiming for less doing leadership and more being, or embodying, leadership.
If I sound like your people, welcome. I’m glad you’re here.
I started this business with YOU in mind. I do this work because I love Black women and I want us to be free. So when I started my business, I committed to do my work differently and to help others tap into that same agency. Before deciding to work with me, I’d like to share my mission, vision, values, and the framework that grounds everything I do.
You can check out my bio and media kit to learn more about me.
Mission
To coach and develop Black women through the real work of leadership: authenticity, strategy, and legacy, wherever they lead.
Vision
A world where Black women can lead out loud, rest without guilt, and are free to shape the future, not just manage the moment.
The Lead Free Framework
Every service I offer is shaped by five conditions I call the #LeadFree pillars. Together they form a way of leading that is honest, sustainable, and grounded in who you actually are, not who the system expects you to be.
Awareness: I name what I see. Before we ever get in a room together, I’m listening for the patterns: what keeps coming up, what’s being avoided, what the leader already knows but hasn’t been able to say out loud yet. Awareness is the work of getting honest about what is actually shaping your experience at work, including power, expectations, and the specific weight that comes with being a Black woman in a leadership role. When you can see it clearly, you can make decisions from clarity instead of reaction.
Alignment: I coach leaders to get clear on what actually matters to them: their priorities, their boundaries, the kind of leader they want to be. Then we look at whether how they’re spending their time and energy reflects any of that. Alignment isn’t a one-time conversation. It’s the ongoing work of making sure your decisions reflect your values and your capacity, especially when the pressure to overextend is loudest.
Authenticity: I build every engagement custom. There is no cookie-cutter agenda, no prescribed path, no version of this work that ignores who you actually are and what you’re actually navigating. I create space for leaders to lead in ways that are grounded and honest, without overperforming, dimming their lights, or contorting themselves to meet expectations that were never built with them in mind.
Abundance: This work holds space for both joy and grieving, because sustainable leadership requires both. I’m not here to push you toward relentless productivity or to tell you that rest is a reward you haven’t earned yet. Abundance means moving away from crisis-driven habits and toward pacing, shared responsibility, and a realistic picture of what success looks like for you, not only for the system you’re leading in.
Accountability: I say the things in the room that were named in the pre-work. I hold space for the voices that are often overlooked by the team. And I hold leaders accountable in ways that are clear, mutual, and humane, strengthening how feedback is given and received, how decisions get made, and how responsibility is shared, without relying on fear, avoidance, or punishment.
Values
🖤 Sisterhood
We create space where Black women can be real, be seen, and be supported, without having to explain themselves.
⚖️ Justice
We challenge systems that demand our labor but deny our leadership. We believe freedom starts from the inside out.
✨ Joy
Joy is not a luxury. It’s a form of resistance passed down from our ancestors, always within reach, even in the hardest moments.
🌱 Growth
We hold space for both grace and loving accountability. “No judgment. No guilt. No shame.” We believe honest reflection and feedback are how leaders evolve.
🕊️ Freedom
Freedom means leading without shrinking, resting without guilt, and saying yes from alignment, not obligation.
🤲🏾 Giving Back
We honor the people and communities who made our leadership possible. We coach from a place of gratitude, reciprocity, and responsibility.
🧚🏾♀️ Legacy
We help leaders build something that lasts. Not just titles, but impact, culture, and pathways for those to come.
Logo
The logo for Kelli King-Jackson, LLC is a remix of the Adinkra symbol for freedom, the Fawohodie.
The tagline for the business is:
Love Your Leadership. Free Your Impact.
Step into leadership you love. Create impact that matters.
My work is to help the leaders and organizations I work with love their leadership so they can be free to have a sector-shifting impact.
Social Impact
I measure the impact of my work by the progress my clients make and by continuously working on projects that advance equity and justice for Black people.
Philanthropy
Our charities of choice are: The Bayou Collective, which I also co-founded, HYPE Freedom School and the Women’s Foundation of the South. We invest in these organizations through monthly donations, sponsoring events, and amplifying their work to our network.
Volunteerism
Black Folx in Philanthropy: This is a private, invitation-only group for Black leaders making funding decisions including those working at public, private, family, or community foundations; DAF holders; Giving Circle members; and consultants to these groups in Texas . Email us if you’d like to join.
Sistermind: This is a monthly business and peer coaching co-working for women of color solopreneurs and small businesses.
Community Engagement
Win With Black Women (WWBW): WWBW is a collective of intergenerational, intersectional Black women leaders throughout the nation who come together to stand united in support of Black women. They support efforts to advance the policy agenda of Black women championed by Black women-led organizations. This network meets virtually on Sunday evenings. I attend their meetings and help spread the word to Black women in my local community. I am not a formal volunteer with the organization.