Veronica Blakely is a native of Tampa, Florida where she is an educator, community volunteer, and former corporate manager.  While opportunities gained in the business sector enriched her life, she considers being a teacher the most important, challenging, and rewarding experience of her career.  The idea of transforming a person’s mind from, “I can’t to I can,” is a very humbling and rewarding experience. She uses this experience as a Coach and Facilitator in her Speech Communications business.  Veronica's accomplishments are as follows:

 

Professional

• BA – Speech Communication

• MA – Management

• Ed.S – Education Leadership

• Former High School Teacher

• Former Corporate Manager

• Associate Professor – Business, Communication, and General Education

 

Community

• Program Manager - Black Business Expo

• Former Board Chair - Regional Black Chamber

• Host/Emcee - Soledad O'Brien PowHERful Girls Summit - Tampa

• Program Manager and Co- Emcee with local TV Anchors - NAACP Freedom Fund Dinner

• Co-Chair and Co-Emcee Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Leadership Breakfast

• Computer Mentors Group - Teen Business Challenge Workshop Facilitator

• Volunteer Coordinator - Teen Girls Leadership Summit - Tampa/St. Pete

• Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

• National Speakers Association (NSA)

• National Assoc. for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) 

• Tampa Organization of Black Affairs (TOBA)

• National Association of Professional Women

• Former Radio Host - The AGM Network

• Toastmaster’s International – Former President and Area Governor

 

Personal

• Author

• Consultant

• Host - Emcee 

• Speech Coach

• Voice Over Talent

• Facilitator - Commentator - Announcer

 

In addition to Veronica’s many talents, she was a movie extra in Ocean’s Eleven which was filmed in St. Petersburg, FL.  She is also a former NFL cheerleader for the Tampa Bay Bucs and for the WFL (World Football League) Tampa Bay Bandits.  Veronica has performed in several local plays and she has produced and directed numerous Gospel Productions in Tampa.  Veronica is a former local   President and Area Governor of a Toastmaster’s International Public Speaking club. As an accomplished public speaker, she used those skills in her TEDx Talk, “Your Voice is Your Identity.”

 

As a community volunteer, Veronica has been the workshop facilitator and Board Member for the Tampa Organization of Black Affairs Youth Oratorical Scholarship Contest, Loaned Executive for the United Way, Co-Chair/Program Manager for the MLK, Jr. Breakfast and NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet, and Co-Host with local TV News Anchors for community events. Veronica was also the Host for The Soledad O’Brien Starfish Foundation PowHERful Summit in Tampa, FL.