Rhonda Carson Leach

Rhonda Carson Leach is a seasoned leadership development and entrepreneurship education professional with more than 30 years of experience in management consulting, facilitation, and executive coaching. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she currently serves as Senior Program Director at the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence (IEE), where she leads key initiatives supporting business owners and entrepreneurs across diverse stages of growth. Her work spans executive education, organizational strategy, and capacity-building programs designed to strengthen both established enterprises and emerging ventures. In her role at the IEE, Rhonda oversees multiple flagship programs, including the Entrepreneurial Fellows Center, which serves high-revenue CEOs, founders, and family business leaders, and the Urban & Community Entrepreneurship Program, which focuses on supporting entrepreneurs in underserved and moderate-income communities. She has facilitated over 200 workshops on topics such as leadership, change management, conflict resolution, goal setting, and interpersonal effectiveness. In addition to her institutional leadership, she is the founder of Savvy Consulting Group, where she provides coaching and consulting services to entrepreneurs and professionals seeking to improve business performance, leadership capacity, and strategic clarity. Throughout her career, Rhonda has been recognized for her ability to translate complex business concepts into practical, actionable guidance for entrepreneurs. Her background includes decades of experience in business consulting, program development, and organizational leadership across academic and community-based institutions, including the University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University. Known for her emphasis on accountability, resilience, and continuous learning, she remains focused on helping individuals and organizations build sustainable success through strong leadership, sound financial practices, and intentional growth strategies.

Rhonda Carson Leach is a leader, entrepreneur, and community champion who has spent her career doing one thing with great intentionality — helping people rise. Whether she’s in a boardroom, a classroom, or a coaching session, Rhonda shows up with her whole heart, a clear purpose, and an unshakeable belief that every person she encounters has something powerful inside of them just waiting to be unleashed.

Rhonda is Senior Program Director with the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence (IEE), part of the University of Pittsburgh's Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship where she leads three thriving centers — the Entrepreneurs Fellows Center (EFC), Membership, and the Urban & Community Entrepreneurship Program (UCEP). In this role, she walks alongside entrepreneurs, business owners, and community leaders, connecting them to the resources, relationships, and opportunities they need — not just to survive, but to truly thrive. For Rhonda, this work isn’t just professional — it’s personal. She genuinely believes that when we invest in entrepreneurs, we invest in entire communities, and that kind of impact matters.

Beyond her university role, Rhonda is the Founder and President of Savvy Consulting Group LLC, a platform she built from the ground up over seventeen years because she saw a need she simply couldn’t ignore. Too many talented, brilliant women were sitting on the sidelines of their own lives — held back by self-doubt, fear, and the quiet lie that they weren’t enough. Rhonda walks with women through the hard stuff — the imposter syndrome, the “am I really qualified?” moments, the fear of being seen — and helps them find their way through to the other side. Her coaching, consulting, and signature workshops aren’t just programs. They’re life-changing conversations that help women step fully into who they were always meant to be.

The impact Rhonda has made has not gone unnoticed. She was named a 2025 Women of Influence by the Pittsburgh Business Times and a 2020 Women of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of America — recognitions that speak to both her professional excellence and the lives she has touched along the way. She was honored as one of the 50 Women of Excellence by the New Pittsburgh Courier in 2009, and was recognized as a Minority Small Business Champion by the U.S. Small Business Administration in 2005. More than two decades of being seen, celebrated, and called upon — and she’s still just getting started.

“Good, better, best — never let it rest, until your good is better, and your better is best!”

This motto isn’t just something Rhonda says — it’s how she lives. It’s the standard she holds herself to and the standard she lovingly calls others into.It’swhy she doesn’t settle, why she keeps growing, and why the people around her can’t help but want to do the same.

Rhonda Carson Leach is proof that when one woman chooses to rise with purpose, she doesn’t just change her own life — she changes the lives of everyone around her. She shows up every single day, fully committed to that calling, and she invites every woman she meets to do the same. Her message is simple, her mission is clear, and her legacy is still being written: every woman has the power to lead, transform, and leave a lasting mark on this world.