Lakeya Cherry

My career path has been quite a journey. I started with a bachelor's in psychology and law, thinking I was going to be an attorney. After a semester and a half in law school, I realized it wasn't for me, but I still wanted a career where I made a social impact. So I moved cross-country to New York and got my Master's in Science in Social Work from Columbia University. I started as a clinical social worker at Harlem Children's Zone doing preventive services with families, then worked at a child advocacy center in New York City with children when there were allegations of abuse, serving as a forensic evaluator. While I loved being a therapist, I experienced vicarious trauma and wanted to try something different. I moved back to California and worked for the California Department of Corrections in a transitional case management program, supporting parolees integrating back into society. I realized I needed a more macro role to influence change, so I moved to Washington, D.C. and worked at a higher education tech company, starting as a senior program coordinator and moving up to manage a team doing business development and partnerships for universities creating online programs. After over 2 years, I became CEO of the Network for Social Work Management, a membership association for social workers. I had to learn everything about nonprofit management from the ground up and was CEO for about 9 years. Then I experienced burnout. I had just graduated with my doctorate in social work from USC with a focus on management, leadership, and innovation. In my research, I saw the necessity for more leaders to have access to coaching across sectors, and I decided I had the education, experience, and skill set to be a good executive coach. I started my own executive coaching and consulting business as a solopreneur about 5 years ago, and I'm also a partner at an executive coaching firm called Evolution.