Coles has 20 years of experience in all aspects of marketing and media campaign implementation. Her past project experience includes campaign development, project management, advertising, copywriting and scripting, media placement and program evaluation. She has managed consulting contacts aimed at reaching target populations of more than 1.4 million people. Coles has held positions in various nonprofit and for-profit agencies. She is a graduate of Temple University and the mother of one son.

Speaking to FunTimes, Coles had this to say: “I have reached many goals and accomplished a few things I never thought I could. I try to celebrate the smaller steps forward as much as possible but I haven’t reached or recognized any defining moments that have stood out yet.

“The challenges are the same for all business owners of color – limited access to opportunities. You work through each of those issues every day and every day you hopefully make progress.

“All of our projects are meant to have impact. Whether we are sharing information and resources to impact people’s health decisions, or how they handle neighborhood and household sustainability, or how they prepare to be part of the city’s workforce, or what they understand about their changing neighborhood’s infrastructure ̶ our work is meant to be impactful every day.

“To bridge the gap and build relationships between African Americans, Africans and Caribbean people, communication and common activities are the places to start. Our children, our communities of faith, our small business community and our cultural celebrations all share spaces in our communities that need to be explored to develop the kinship that already exists through a shared ancestry.”

Women Of Influence 2018 In This Issue