Kellye Franklin-Nelson
Leadership Strategist and Speaker for Technology and Project Leaders
Leadership Strategist and Speaker for Technology and Project Leaders
Kellye spent more than 25 years inside Fortune 50 and federal operations, including high visibility leadership roles like Chief of Staff, IT PMO Leader and Business Operations leader. She speaks to project, IT, and engineering leaders about why strong performers stall, and what they can do about it starting Monday morning.
Lockheed Program Managers Development Summit
Enterprise Connect
Society of Women Engineers
Ultimate Therapist Summit
Kellye has graced the stage at events such as the PMI Global Summit, Enterprise Connect, Society of Women Engineers, Lockheed Martin’s Program Manager Development Program Graduation and Summit, PMI Central Ohio Chapter’s Professional Development Day, Black Women in Science and Technology Career Fair and Networking Event, Western Museum Association Annual Meeting, Fearless Women Summit Seattle, Ultimate Therapist Business Summit, National Conference on Student Life. She's also been a virtual speaker for PMI New Zealand's Leader's in Delivery, Change Management Global Connect, and UC Berkeley’s Next Opportunity at Work (NOW) Conference.
Kellye's stories come from the work itself. She's spent her career inside large, complex organizations, from Boeing to the Veterans Administration, and her clients work for companies in technology, aerospace, engineering, and healthcare industries. She knows what it looks like when capable leaders get buried under work that should never have reached their desks. Audiences get candor, a fair amount of humor, and tools they can use the next day. Organizers get a speaker who shows up prepared, adapts when the agenda shifts, and tailors every session to the room.
Kellye is available for keynote speaking, seminars, and multi-day workshops. Each event’s talk is customized specifically for your audience’s needs. Kellye’s availability from the base location of Las Vegas, NV, as well as applicable workshop fees, may be requested by completing a speaking inquiry submission.
What You Get with Kellye
What You Get with Kellye
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Captivating & Candid
Kellye captivates audiences with her stories, candid delivery, and experience. She brings real world experience to your audience to help inspire transformation, practical and interactive content customized to you and your audience; while also helping you reach your event goals.
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Straightforward & Supportive
Kellye’s focus is to serve you, your audience and the experience you’re curating for your event. She can deliver a keynote presentation and breakout session at the same event. Your audience will also be given access to our proven frameworks, so they are empowered for their next steps.
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Customized & Flexible
Kellye’s customized presentation will be designed to fit your available time, from 30 minutes to three days. Because the needs of any seminar or event can change, Kellye is also experienced and flexible enough to adapt when a segment needs to be reduced or expanded. Kellye will do whatever she can to accommodate and help your event reach its full potential.
Signature Talks
Signature Talks
Want a tailored speaking solution? I’d love to work with you to design a custom talk for your event. Click here to submit your request.
Why Technical Leaders Stall at Middle Management
Why Technical Leaders Stall at Middle Management
You promoted your strongest technical people because they were the best at the work. Now they’re managing, and something’s off. They’re still solving problems themselves, their teams wait on them for decisions, and you’re not sure any of them are ready for the next level. This session explains why strong technical professionals stall in middle management and how to diagnose what’s holding each one back, so you can grow the leaders you need instead of looking outside for them.
Takeaways:
- The shifts that separate a strong technical contributor from an effective middle manager, and how to spot which of your leaders haven’t made them
- The early signs a leader is stalling, before it shows up in their team’s results
- Why the cause of each stall changes what you do next, and where internal training usually misses
- The shifts that separate a strong technical contributor from an effective middle manager, and how to spot which of your leaders haven’t made them
- The early signs a leader is stalling, before it shows up in their team’s results
- Why the cause of each stall changes what you do next, and where internal training usually misses
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Yet Another Change: Leading Transformation When Your Team Hasn’t Recovered From the Last One
Yet Another Change: Leading Transformation When Your Team Hasn’t Recovered From the Last One
The direction came from the top, and now it’s on you to make it land. Your leaders agree in the meeting, then go back to working the old way. This session shows where change efforts stall below the decision, and how to get your leaders and their teams adopting the new way of working without pulling them off the work that still has to get done.
Takeaways:
- Why transformation efforts fail, including the leftovers from past changes that quietly block the new one
- How to communicate change down the organization so it reaches the people doing the work
- How to recover a change effort that’s already losing momentum
- Why transformation efforts fail, including the leftovers from past changes that quietly block the new one
- How to communicate change down the organization so it reaches the people doing the work
- How to recover a change effort that’s already losing momentum
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Career Visibility Without the Cringe: Advocate for Your Work with Confidence
Career Visibility Without the Cringe: Advocate for Your Work with Confidence
Engineers, developers, and project professionals are trained to let the work speak for itself. Then review season arrives, a stretch role opens, or a reorg reshuffles the team, and you realize your impact never traveled past your own standups and sprint reviews. The people making promotion decisions know you work hard. They just haven’t seen evidence that you’re ready for more. This session shows you how to advocate for your work without feeling awkward or self-promotional.
Takeaways:
- How to translate your work into impact language tied to what your organization cares about most
- How to build a P.R.O.O.F. Portfolio you can pull from for performance reviews, interviews, and growth conversations
- Self-advocacy scripts that raise your visibility without feeling like bragging
- How to translate your work into impact language tied to what your organization cares about most
- How to build a P.R.O.O.F. Portfolio you can pull from for performance reviews, interviews, and growth conversations
- Self-advocacy scripts that raise your visibility without feeling like bragging
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Before You Blame the Team: How to Turn Around Underperformance
Before You Blame the Team: How to Turn Around Underperformance
Your leaders are capable, busy, and still not delivering, and you’re tired of picking up the slack. The usual instinct is to push harder, replace people, or give a big speech, and each of those tends to make things worse. This session shows you how to figure out what’s really going on, whether it’s skill, will, or the environment your team is working in, and how to turn the team around without coddling anyone.
Takeaways:
- How to diagnose what’s driving underperformance so you fix the cause instead of chasing symptoms
- How to build accountability into the way your team works, so it holds without you policing it
- A 90-day sequence for turning a team around without a purge or a pep talk
- How to diagnose what’s driving underperformance so you fix the cause instead of chasing symptoms
- How to build accountability into the way your team works, so it holds without you policing it
- A 90-day sequence for turning a team around without a purge or a pep talk
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Attendees responded very positively to Kellye Franklin-Nelson’s session, highlighting her deep knowledge, high energy, and engaging presentation style. The majority of participants rated the session as Excellent, frequently noting the session’s practical value and the usefulness of the actionable insights she provided. Many shared that they immediately saw ways to apply her guidance on business acumen, executive communication, and decisionmaking frameworks to their project work.
PMI Central Ohio Chapter Professional Development Day
I attended your talk about how to avoid being stuck when you're in the mid-phase of your career. I just wanted to thank you for sharing your tips on how to increase visibility and apply your work to better impact your business. These skills will help me throughout my career, and inspired me to remain perseverant. :)
Society of Women Engineers (WE) Local Columbus
Session Overall rating 5 out of 5.
Kellye Franklin-Nelson's session on "Project Manager to Trusted Leader," where her "Shift From -> Shift To" framework opened my eyes to how small, intentional shifts can elevate influence and trust.
Your session at this year's Global Summit was my favorite. I love the mindset shift from project manager to project leader. Thank you so much for your insights.
Kellye Franklin-Nelson's session on "Project Manager to Trusted Leader," where her "Shift From -> Shift To" framework opened my eyes to how small, intentional shifts can elevate influence and trust.
Your session at this year's Global Summit was my favorite. I love the mindset shift from project manager to project leader. Thank you so much for your insights.
PMI Global Summit
Kellye is available for your:
Kellye is available for your:
Keynote Sessions
Invite Kellye to your next event to not only inspire your audience with possibilities but give them actionable steps to follow and immediately implement for life changing and career accelerating results.
Workshops & Conference Tracks
Kellye can do multiple sessions or run a “track” within a conference for an audience dive deep and move from theory to implementation. These workshops are curated in collaboration with the event planner and conference host.
Virtual Sessions
Whether virtual summits, membership training, or hybrid events, Kellye’s experience as a corporate leader, entrepreneur, speaker, consultant and coach allow her to create results-driven training for groups of any size.
Leadership team retreats and executive briefings
Kellye is regularly invited to executive groups where she serves as not only a facilitator, but a trainer to bring results-driven, on-the-spot coaching and insights to leaders at all levels to get them unstuck and generating momentum.
FAQs
FAQs
Do you customize your talks?
Absolutely! In fact, I encourage it to ensure your audience receives the most out of the experience you are creating. Build upon one of my existing talks or we can partner to design a completely tailored discussion – let’s work together to achieve your event goals.
How long are your talks?
My presentation will be designed to fit your available time from 30 minutes to 3 days. I also understand the needs of any seminar or event can change and am flexible enough to adapt my segment accordingly. My goal is to help your event reach its full potential.
What is Kellye's speaking fee?
Keynotes start at $2,500. Workshops, multi-session engagements, and leadership retreats are quoted based on length and customization. For in-person events outside Las Vegas, travel expenses are added to the fee. If you're a professional association chapter or nonprofit working with a tighter budget, reach out anyway. We're happy to talk through options.
How can we get extra value by engaging you?
Hiring me as a keynote? Have me do a breakout session at the same event. This gets you a big discount on the second presentation and saves you on additional travel and other expenses. Whenever possible, I can also create a customized pre-or post-event webinar to give you and your audience extra value.
Do you really give us free books?
I sure do! With each paid engagement you get 50 copies of one of my “Self-Discovery for the Evolving Leader” journal. These can be used as giveaways for the attendees, door prizes, sign-up premiums, or even as part of the centerpiece at your banquet or luncheon. These books will save you a small fortune on “throwaway” giveaways and give your attendees a valuable leadership gift. If you want to buy more copies, so everyone gets one, I give really large discounts for bulk purchases.
Do your sessions qualify for PDUs/CEUs?
Yes. in most cases, my sessions qualify for PDU’s. Check with your certification governing body to verify the this is true in your case and based on the content being delivered.
Can we book a long-term contract?
That’s your call! If you're interested in a longer-term solution to develop your community, offer a follow-on solution for your conference attendees, or as part of your recurring summit, let's chat about the possibilities.
Heard Kellye Speak? Pick up where the session left off.
If you're working on your own leadership, the Find My Leadership Gaps Quiz takes about five minutes and shows you which gap to focus on first. Take the Quiz
If you lead a leadership team and something in the talk sounded familiar, let's talk about what's happening on yours. Talk to Kellye
If you're working on your own leadership, the Find My Leadership Gaps Quiz takes about five minutes and shows you which gap to focus on first. Take the Quiz
If you lead a leadership team and something in the talk sounded familiar, let's talk about what's happening on yours. Talk to Kellye