More About LaTonya
My most valuable skill, and the one thing I often teach others, is how to build real relationships across differences.
I demonstrate what it means to lead below the surface through relatable stories from my career, my family, and through direct experience with other below the surface leaders. We can all lead below the surface and make real change in our organizations. A few small shifts can go a long way.
Founder of Change Coaches and Author of Leading Below the Surface, LaTonya Wilkins coaches CEOs, senior executives, and teams around the world. Global leaders typically call LaTonya when they are facing the following challenges: navigating conflict in diverse teams, developing leaders to handle the increasingly complex workplace, struggling to gain alignment within their teams, and building accountable cultures of belonging.
LaTonya is a sought-after keynote speaker and has inspired audiences across industries. She built her career working in HR, talent management, and learning and development at Fortune 500 companies before teaching and taking on progressive leadership roles at the University of Illinois’ Gies College of Business. LaTonya’s book Leading Below the Surface: How to Build Real (and Psychologically Safe) Relationships with People Who Are Different from You was recently featured as a top inclusion book for executives on seniorexecutive.com.
In addition to running Change Coaches, LaTonya is a member of a couple of board of directors including True Star Youth Foundation and Women of Color in the Workplace. She teaches business at the University of Illinois and has consistently been rated a top instructor by her students. Change Coaches, which has earned national certification as a Minority Business Enterprise, became a global business quickly after its inception. LaTonya is always expanding her knowledge through reading, creating REAL relationships across the globe, and taking on new expansive projects.
We worked with Change Coaches on a large-scale DEI project. Both our board and our leadership team were very impressed with the coaches and the way they approached our time together. The scope included a mix of listening sessions, a DEI audit, leadership team coaching, and staff workshops. The results of our time together not only led to a laser-clear vision going forward, but also created a sense of urgency for a long-term shift to a culture of belonging.
One of the best things about working with Change Coaches was their ability to meet us where we were. Instead of providing us with a boxed solution, Change Coaches took time to understand our specific organizational challenges. As a result of our work together, we not only gained clarity on what priorities were most important moving forward but we also were able to effectively and safely engage employees in that process.
Thank you soooooo much for being with us and sharing your wisdom. Your commencement address was the perfect cap to a year of growth and learning around cultural humility and our role as coaches in advancing REAL conversations with our clients. Much appreciation for you and all that you do!
Below the Surface Leadership
Leading Below the Surface is a prolific compass for the forward-thinking leader. Inspired by organizational culture research, social psychology, neuroscience, and the real-life experiences of culture leader LaTonya Wilkins, this book disrupts the way we think about traditional leadership to achieve truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive cultures of belonging in the workplace. No matter what level of an organization you are in, you will gain something valuable for your career in this book.
