About Kathy Lee

Kathy Lee brings a strong global mindset shaped by 30 years of coaching, consulting and training experience in the United States and South Africa to clients who represent diverse nationalities, ethnicities and religions and professions. Ms. Lee’s coaching specialties include: visionary leadership, diversity and inclusion and mid-career navigation to senior leadership and executive levels. She has coached leaders from twenty-eight countries across five continents, including: Australia, China, India, Pakistan, S. Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Argentina, Peru, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and the United States. Her work in corporate, not-for-profit, government, education, healthcare and private sectors provides a solid foundation in understanding how organizational cultures impact on those who work in them and the conscious strategies employees need to succeed in their careers.

Working with People from Diverse Cultures

She enjoys working with people from diverse cultures and supports them to draw upon and align their choices (professional and personal) with their personal and cultural values and beliefs. Clients bring a range of career and personal issues to Kathy for coaching, such as: clarifying career direction, building personal brand, eminence and executive presence, making career transitions, managing up, addressing performance issues, creating strong professional networks, building self confidence, creating work life balance, managing health and self-care, feeling stuck wanting to get unstuck, wanting professional growth & development, pursuing real aspirations and living life more fully and purposefully.

Interest in Diversity

Her interest in diversity of people was strongly influenced by a childhood experience. “One night, unannounced, my father brought home a celebrity guest, Nat King Cole. I was about 12 years old. My dad was a professional musician and played in the band for Mr. Cole while he performed in St. Louis. He noticed Mr. Cole didn’t leave to go out for dinner after the rehearsal was finished. He asked him what he was going to do for supper. Mr. Cole said he didn’t think there were any places that served African Americans in that area of St. Louis. So my dad invited him home to have dinner at our place. And that is how my interest in diversity of people, along many dimensions — race, ethnicity, religion, nationality — began. That experience opened up the whole world to me”.

South Africa and Apartheid

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin (BA in sociology) Kathy became the first fulltime white teacher in the Black high school in Canton, Mississippi, and was there the day desegregation began. Later her family moved to a homeland in S. Africa (Bophuthatswana) during the apartheid era, to build interracial, multicultural communities during their volunteer hours. Her children attended multicultural/multiracial schools in Mafikeng. While working fulltime at an agricultural development corporation she studied the impact of apartheid on village families engaged in agricultural development, particularly its impact on women and children. During her field research she lived in the home of a village chief and his family for several weeks to observe village life. She received a Masters degree in sociology at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

Education and Certifications

Kathy holds a B.A in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin, an M.A. in Sociology from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is certified by the International Coach Federation as a Professional Certified Coach, by the Applied NeuroScience Institute in NeuroPositive Research and Applications, and by the University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler School of Business in Cross-Cultural Business Savvy.

Author and Documentary Producer

Kathy is a member of the Bahá’í Faith, the author of two books and the producer of a documentary film on efforts of the Bahá’í community in the United States to create racial unity and equality in the post WWI era. Kathy has two sons and six grandchildren who live in the United States and Sweden. She currently resides in North Carolina and enjoys being a part of a global family.

In the words of a colleague . . .

“Kathy is a coach who cares deeply about her service to her individual clients and to us as the sponsoring organization. I know I can always rely on her to bring careful preparation, diligent effort and great follow-through in whatever she does.” — Kathryn Lenox, Executive Efficacy Coach, Korn/Ferry international

“Kathy is a results oriented management consultant, educator, and coach. Her broad experience in the corporate world, non-profits, and independently add up to a source of wisdom that all who work with her count on. She gives selflessly of herself, both to her clients and project team members. Kathy is competent, knowledgeable, and caring. And she has the know-how to employ these attributes.” — David Rupp, Consultant, Facilitator & Coach