Through New Elevation Consulting and the Elevate™ Series, Dr. Tunjarnika “Nika” Coleman is creating a new model for how leaders build presence, influence and leave a legacy that outlasts them.
There comes a point in many leaders’ careers when the question quietly changes. It is no longer, How far can I go? It becomes, Who is better because I led, and how will my impact shape those who come next?
For Dr. Coleman, that shift has become the defining thread of her next chapter.
Coleman is the Founder and President of New Elevation Consulting, a firm dedicated to helping executives and organizations lead with greater clarity, intention and purpose. She is the author of the Elevate™ series for Executive leaders. The first release in the Elevate Leadership series is entitled, Elevate: The Executive Presence Journal- A 30-day guided experience for women who lead. Future releases in the Elevate Series will expand to serve men and other executives, thoughtfully addressing the unique challenges, experiences, and opportunities that shape their professional and personal journeys.
In this edition, centering on women in leadership, at first glance the two may seem distinct, one unfolds in boardrooms and executive suites; the other in a woman’s quiet moments of reflection as her day begins or ends.
For Coleman, however, they are the same work.
Both are rooted in a truth Coleman discovered over more than thirty years of leadership: presence is not bestowed upon you when you reach the top. It is built quietly, in the difficult moments, the unseen choices and the daily decision to trust your own voice, long before anyone recognizes it.
A LEADER SHAPED BY PURPOSE
Before she built anything for other leaders, Coleman spent decades becoming one.
Her educational career began in a Broward County middle school classroom, and from there she moved through nearly every level of academic leadership , professor, department chair, dean, provost, and vice president of academic affairs , with each role sharpening her ability to lead through complexity. That trajectory carried her into statewide service as a former President of the Association of Florida Colleges, representing 28 institutions, and into national recognition as a member of the highly acclaimed Aspen Rising Presidents Fellowship.
A member of Leadership Florida’s Cornerstone Class 41, Coleman’s influence has never been confined to one place or station in time. A dynamic speaker, she has served in multiple board seats with chambers of commerce and municipal organizations across the region , recognition that includes being named Woman of the Year by one of the largest chambers in Florida. Together, this work reflects a career built at the intersection of education, workforce development, and civic leadership , with reach that spans the state, not just Palm Beach County.
But somewhere in that ascent, Coleman noticed something.
She had earned the credentials and held the titles, yet soon discovered that neither totally prepared her for leadership’s daily realities. She knew how to manage, execute, and deliver, but had to learn through experience how to command a room, speak difficult truths with courage and grace, while remaining grounded in her faith and integrity when tested.
Her career across secondary schools, colleges, and universities gave her a rare view of education and the people it serves. “Dr. Nika” as they affectionately call her has devoted herself to amplifying unheard voices, advocating for the underdog, and opening doors for others. To her, leadership is not simply about rising; it is about reaching back and empowering others so that they can rise, too.
She began wondering how many capable women were navigating leadership without a practical guide. Perhaps they did not need another lesson in management, but they needed the space, tools, and confidence to pause, reflect, and lead with clarity.
TURNING EXPERIENCE INTO A ROADMAP FOR OTHERS
That question became the foundation for New Elevation Consulting and the Elevate series. The series grew out of her personal journey and is used as a roadmap designed to help other women navigate leadership with greater clarity, confidence, and support.
Coleman had discovered that the hardest parts of leadership rarely appeared in a job description. They emerged in moments no credential could fully prepare her for: claiming authority without sacrificing authenticity, making difficult decisions without abandoning compassion, and leading others while continuing to grow into the leader she was meant to be.
Through executive coaching, leadership development, strategic planning, and organizational transformation, Coleman advises executives, boards, and organizations across education, healthcare, nonprofit, and corporate environments. Her approach is grounded in theory coupled with lived leadership experiences.
“Leadership is ultimately about serving others,” Coleman says. “It is about creating opportunities for women and others to lead boldly, championing those whose potential has yet to be fully recognized, and helping leaders become the very best version of themselves.”
That conviction also inspired Elevate, a thirty-day experience designed to turn insight into action. Coleman had seen too many women leave leadership programs inspired, only to return to work unchanged. Inspiration, she realized, is not a practice; a weekend of it rarely survives Monday.
Elevate guides women through the moments that shape leadership: developing presence and mindset, finding and using their voices, navigating difficult conversations, leading authentically, and building something that endures beyond their roles.
At its core is the framework Coleman has used with executives, and with herself: Reflect. Realign. Lead.™
Reflect, because effective leadership begins with honesty about what you think, what you value, and what drives you.
Realign, because awareness matters only when your choices and behavior reflect it.
Lead, because leadership is not about reacting quickly or performing a title. It is about moving forward with intention and creating the conditions for others to rise with you.
THE SHIFT FROM OPERATOR TO STRATEGIST
There is one transition Coleman returns to more than any other, because it is where she watches capable people stall.
She calls it the Executive Shift. The move from operator to strategist.
Most leaders are promoted because they are exceptional operators. They execute. They close the gap. They are the person handed the impossible thing on Thursday who somehow produces a desired outcome by Monday.
That competence is real. It is how they arrive.
But it stops scaling.
The operator asks what must be done today. The strategist asks where is the organization is going, what will the organization need eighteen months from now, is the organization ahead of the curve and what is the organization doing today for future positioning.
Coleman describes the work as challenging leaders to move beyond simply managing the demands of the moment, and to begin thinking, leading and positioning strategically for sustainable growth and for what comes next.
The hardest part, in her experience, is rarely the strategic thinking itself. Most leaders can do that the moment they are asked.
The hard part is giving yourself permission to stop measuring your worth only through output, when output is where your worth has lived for your entire career.
Presence is what you hold instead.
A DIFFERENT MEASURE OF LEADERSHIP
Leadership is usually measured by what accumulates. Title. Budget. Headcount. Tenure.
Coleman’s work suggests another measurement worth considering.
What continues after you leave the room?
“This is not about visibility,” she says. “It is about building a legacy of influence that creates opportunities for others, strengthens organizations, and inspires leaders to lead unapologetically with greater purpose, courage, and authenticity.”
She says it more plainly, too.
“I want my work to leave people, organizations, and communities better than I found them.”
That is the thread connecting everything she is building. Through New Elevation Consulting, she helps leaders and institutions become more intentional about how they lead. Through Elevate, she has taken the same philosophy and made it portable, so that a woman with no access to an executive coach can still be handed the practice.
The women working through the 30 day leadership journal are not waiting to be noticed.
They are finding their voice in it. They are having the conversation they had been avoiding. They are setting the boundaries and standards that they should have set years ago. And they are leading as themselves rather than as a performance.
For Dr. Nika Coleman, that may ultimately be the most meaningful chapter of her story.
Dr. Tunjarnika “Nika” Coleman is President and CEO of New Elevation Consulting, creator of the Elevate™ Series, and author of Elevate: The Executive Presence Journal: A 30-Day Experience for Women Who Lead. Her leadership philosophy is Reflect. Realign. Lead.™ Learn more at newelevationconsulting.com or connect on LinkedIn.
