Get to know Tolonda

I got in a lot of trouble in middle school. One time, I got the football team to move one of our teachers’ cars up a hill and covered it with shaving cream!!! My counselor quickly let me know that he saw leadership potential in me. He said, “You can get a group to do anything you set your mind to, but you’re leading people down a hole. What if you led them up a mountain?” That was my first lesson in the responsibility of leadership to positively impact others. That counselor gave me many mountains to climb, and since then, I have continued to set my sights on the peaks!

My biggest life lesson has been that no matter what the situation is, you have a choice in how you respond to it. So often we feel trapped in a no-win situation. But even then, we have a choice in how we view the situation and respond to it. I use this as a way to empower myself when I feel like I have no control over the situation.   

My proudest professional accomplishment was doing Inclusive Leadership work in Saudi Arabia. My team conducted a Train-the-Trainer session, and we learned as much as we were educating others. The participants became key players in increasing gender equity at the company, which contributed to the reform of gender-restrictive laws in the country. You never know what kind of ripple effect you can have.