01 / Keynote
Economic Resiliency as Social Justice
How tech training, hiring reform, and community capital close the generational wealth gap for Black and brown communities.
→Ayanna
The Collective
Founder & President of The Leadership Collective — a consulting practice built to help people see, know, and claim their significance.
The Catalyst
Under her direction, Resilient Coders received a landmark $2.5M grant from MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving.
The Coach
Executive & leadership coach for the next generation of BIPOC founders, operators, and nonprofit executives.
The Bio.
Ayanna Lott-Pollard is a West Philadelphia-born executive, keynote speaker, and leadership coach based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is the Executive Director of Resilient Coders, a non-profit coding bootcamp with offices in Boston and Philadelphia, and the Founder & President of The Leadership Collective, her personal coaching practice, founded August 2019.
20 + Years in leadership
590 + Engineers placed under her tenure
$ 2.5 M MacKenzie Scott / Yield Giving grant
2 Coasts — Boston & Philadelphia
“If you don’t have a vision for your life, somebody else will always find something for you to do.”
— Ayanna Lott-Pollard,
April 2026
The Speaker.
Ayanna speaks on economic resiliency, leadership, and the unconventional paths that produce the most durable leaders.
02 / Keynote
Shifting the Trajectory for an Entire Generation
On building operators, engineers, and executives who didn't come from the "right" rooms — and why that's the point.
→03 / Fireside
From the White House to the Bootcamp
An unconventional leadership path.
04 / Workshop
The Corporate Home Girl Framework
Authenticity, code-switching, and showing up whole in professional spaces without shrinking.
→05 / Panel
DEI Beyond the Statement
Operational DEI for tech & nonprofit orgs.
→As featured in
Harvard Business School
Podcast · 2023
Boston Globe
Nov 2022
Bay State Banner
Feb 2025
Technical.ly
May & Aug 2024
Philanthropy News Digest
2024
OpenTools.ai
Feature
The Work.
Awards and recognitions from across tech, philanthropy, and civic life. Each is a data point in a long pattern: build a mission, build people, build again.
2024 · Yield Giving
$2.5M grant, MacKenzie Scott
The largest donation in Resilient Coders' history. Deployed under Ayanna's leadership to add AI skills programming, entrepreneurship training, and key directors of operations and employer partnerships.
Technical.ly · Philanthropy News Digest
2023 · Featured Guest
Harvard Business School Podcast
Managing the Future of Work — "Resilient Coders' formula for a diverse tech workforce." An elite academic validation of her work in workforce development.
HBS · Managing the Future of Work
Speaker · 2023 — present
National Stages
Philly Tech Week & Shift Summit · Comcast Project Up · Funders' Convenings (New Orleans, 2026) · RISE Urban Nation · Minority Report & more.
Featured across 6+ podcasts
2023 · Comcast Innovation Awards
Catalyst for Change Award
Presented by the 1Philadelphia team (Danae Mobley & Damon McWhite) at the Comcast Project Up Summit — recognizing leaders advancing digital equity in the region.
Comcast · 1Philadelphia · 2023
Alumna
DiverseForce On Boards
Graduate of the DiverseForce On Boards program placing diverse leaders on corporate and nonprofit boards. Actively serves on the board of We Love Philly.
DiverseForce · We Love Philly
2022 — present
Executive Director, Resilient Coders
First decade milestone crossed under her leadership: 590+ alumni placed, two offices, expanded AI & entrepreneurship tracks, and record-breaking philanthropic support.
Boston Globe · Bay State Banner
The Backstory.
§ About · Who She Is
From the White House to West Philly's front porch.
Ayanna's career is a twenty-year arc through journalism, the White House Upper Press Office, advertising, healthcare, government, and tech. She holds a BA in Journalism from Temple University and an MBA from University of Phoenix.
Today, as Executive Director of Resilient Coders, she leads a team across Boston and Philadelphia training Black and brown engineers — and as Founder of The Leadership Collective, she coaches executives at the intersection of mission, identity, and power.
- Hometown
- West Philadelphia, PA
- Education
- Temple University · University of Phoenix
- Early Career
- White House Upper Press Office
- Board Service
- We Love Philly · DiverseForce On Boards (alumna)
- Self-Described Brand
- "Corporate home girl."
§ Questions, Answered
Who is Ayanna Lott-Pollard?
Everything you need to know.
Ayanna Lott-Pollard is a Philadelphia-based leadership coach, executive director, and keynote speaker. She is the Executive Director of Resilient Coders, a non-profit coding bootcamp, and the Founder & President of The Leadership Collective, her personal coaching practice founded in 2019.
The Leadership Collective is Ayanna's executive coaching practice, founded in 2019. It helps leaders see, know, and claim their significance — particularly those navigating the intersection of mission, identity, and power in their work.
Ayanna Lott-Pollard is the Executive Director of Resilient Coders, a non-profit coding bootcamp training Black and brown engineers across Boston and Philadelphia. Under her leadership the organization has placed 590+ alumni and secured a landmark $2.5M grant from MacKenzie Scott's Yield Giving.
Ayanna speaks on economic resiliency, leadership development, DEI implementation, workforce development, the Corporate Home Girl Framework, and unconventional leadership paths. Her keynotes focus on how tech training, hiring reform, and community capital close generational wealth gaps.
Ayanna has been featured on the Harvard Business School Podcast, Boston Globe, Bay State Banner, Technical.ly, Philanthropy News Digest, and OpenTools.ai. She has spoken at Philly Tech Week, Comcast Project Up, RISE Urban Nation, and national funders' convenings.
To book Ayanna for your event, use the contact form on this website or reach out through The Leadership Collective. She is available for keynotes, workshops, panels, and fireside conversations on leadership, economic justice, and workforce transformation.
Book · Speak · Consult
Let's put something
significant on the calendar.
Keynotes, executive coaching, and leadership consulting — for organizations ready to build the next generation of leaders.