Founder and CEO
I’m an Expert Company Culture Strategist who specializes in addressing the effects of trauma, burnout, bias, and violence in the workplace, the creator of the Burn Bright and Black Girl Burnout podcasts, and author of “Burnt”. My team and I work with companies that want to make a difference and truly help others.
hi, i’m kelley bonner
It’s 9pm and I am in a heap on the floor of my bedroom, sobbing. Clothes, papers, and jewelry are strewn about my room from a panicked search. I am working at a prison and I have lost my wallet. It could cost me my job.
I shake as it hits me that the work I love is killing me.
What followed for me was a complete breakdown of my health, career, personal life, and identity. I had experienced burnout. For me, burnout is what happens when we lose the ability to honor ourselves while doing work that we love.
It took years to put the pieces back together. I quit my job, I moved to Europe, I started therapy.
I became obsessed with learning what I could about burnout and developing tools to combat it.
Coming back to myself took some time, but in the process:
I redefined my values.
I developed boundaries.
I created a workplace both myself and my colleagues felt safe and respected.
My career progressed, and before I turned 40 I had a high paying c-suite director position. I had achieved what some people spent their entire career striving for.
But funny thing: the higher I climbed, the less I lived.
I knew, particularly with the challenges of being a leader, that it was only a matter of time before I burned out again. It felt inevitable in that work environment. You see I had changed positions, organizations, and even cities, but I wasn’t yet aware that in burnout, it takes two to tango.
My lack of boundaries, self-worth, and misaligned allegiance to overwork was an inevitable set up. My workplace gave lip service to inclusion and wellness while demonstrating very clearly that what was valued and expected was sacrifice.
Complete self-sacrifice for the “team” was self-betrayal. And when I decided to leave, they were shocked because all of a sudden my allegiance to myself couldn’t be ignored.
And yet I knew it didn’t have to be that way. You shouldn’t have to give your soul in order to excel at your career. There were simple adjustments that could be made that would enable people to work less AND be impactful. There were tools that could be taught that could maximize how we work, so that we could live more.
So I quit my job and started Kelley Bonner Consulting where I’m on a mission to help everyone around me live better, fuller lives by aligning how they work and live.
I’m bringing a new lens to the common challenges faced at work. I have developed an intersectional framework for increasing innovation and inclusion by reducing bias, burnout and harassment in the workplace.
A healthy workplace environment is possible, probable and life changing for the leadership, employees and stakeholders of every organization with which I consult. My work is based on years of research and practical application, and the methodology is results-driven.
I’m on a mission to create a safe and healthy workplace for all employees of every race, age, ethnicity, and gender identity.
Those difficult and complex situations in the workplace that everyone experiences, but no one wants to discuss? That is my forte.
By employing my signature strategy, I reignite the workplace by generating an environment steeped in respect, communication and success.
I take care of the people who take care of the world. How can your team serve others when they’re completely depleted themselves?
Your organization doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be better. I can help your organization be better.
Kelley Bonner, Expert Company Culture Strategist, Award Winning Podcaster and Founder of Kelley Bonner Consulting, transforms workplaces by reducing burnout and bias, resulting in increased innovation and inclusion. She has been called “revolutionary” by Anita Hill and “a benchmark in her field” by the Pentagon. Kelley provides a framework for leaders to understand the deeper organizational issues that lead to symptoms of burnout and how to solve them at their core.
Having served on the Gender Policy Committee for the White House as well as the International Women’s Economic Security Council, Kelley impacts culture and policy across the globe. She was also hand-picked by the Biden Administration to develop a national framework for workplace safety and harassment. Kelley is a thought leader in the realm of sexual assault, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. She has worked with several federal and international organizations to create safer environments and strategies for violence prevention, including the U.S. Military, Library of Congress, National Academy of Sciences, The United Nations, and NATO.
As a licensed therapist with both a masters in social work and in criminal justice, Kelley built the number one behavioral modification program for the New York State men’s prisons to reduce violence through policy development and program evaluation. She also hosts two daily podcasts called Burn Bright and Black Girl Burnout, with over 50,000 downloads.
Kelley currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland where she enjoys the fine arts, reading, and traveling.
It’s 9pm and I am in a heap on the floor of my bedroom, sobbing. Clothes, papers, and jewelry are strewn about my room from a panicked search. I am working at a prison and I have lost my wallet. It could cost me my job.
I shake as it hits me that the work I love is killing me.
What followed for me was a complete breakdown of my health, career, personal life, and identity. I had experienced burnout. For me, burnout is what happens when we lose the ability to honor ourselves while doing work that we love.
It took years to put the pieces back together. I quit my job, I moved to Europe, I started therapy.
I became obsessed with learning what I could about burnout and developing tools to combat it.
Coming back to myself took some time, but in the process:
I redefined my values.
I developed boundaries.
I created a workplace both myself and my colleagues felt safe and respected.
My career progressed, and before I turned 40 I had a high paying c-suite director position. I had achieved what some people spent their entire career striving for.
But funny thing: the higher I climbed, the less I lived.
I knew, particularly with the challenges of being a leader, that it was only a matter of time before I burned out again. It felt inevitable in that work environment. You see I had changed positions, organizations, and even cities, but I wasn’t yet aware that in burnout, it takes two to tango.
My lack of boundaries, self-worth, and misaligned allegiance to overwork was an inevitable set up. My workplace gave lip service to inclusion and wellness while demonstrating very clearly that what was valued and expected was sacrifice.
Complete self-sacrifice for the “team” was self-betrayal. And when I decided to leave, they were shocked because all of a sudden my allegiance to myself couldn’t be ignored.
And yet I knew it didn’t have to be that way. You shouldn’t have to give your soul in order to excel at your career. There were simple adjustments that could be made that would enable people to work less AND be impactful. There were tools that could be taught that could maximize how we work, so that we could live more.
So I quit my job and started Kelley Bonner Consulting where I’m on a mission to help everyone around me live better, fuller lives by aligning how they work and live.
I’m bringing a new lens to the common challenges faced at work. I have developed an intersectional framework for increasing innovation and inclusion by reducing bias, burnout and harassment in the workplace.
A healthy workplace environment is possible, probable and life changing for the leadership, employees and stakeholders of every organization with which I consult. My work is based on years of research and practical application, and the methodology is results-driven.
I’m on a mission to create a safe and healthy workplace for all employees of every race, age, ethnicity, and gender identity.
Those difficult and complex situations in the workplace that everyone experiences, but no one wants to discuss? That is my forte.
By employing my signature strategy, I reignite the workplace by generating an environment steeped in respect, communication and success.
I take care of the people who take care of the world. How can your team serve others when they’re completely depleted themselves?
Your organization doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be better. I can help your organization be better.
Kelley Bonner, Expert Company Culture Strategist, Award Winning Podcaster and Founder of Kelley Bonner Consulting, transforms workplaces by reducing burnout and bias, resulting in increased innovation and inclusion. She has been called “revolutionary” by Anita Hill and “a benchmark in her field” by the Pentagon. Kelley provides a framework for leaders to understand the deeper organizational issues that lead to symptoms of burnout and how to solve them at their core.
Having served on the Gender Policy Committee for the White House as well as the International Women’s Economic Security Council, Kelley impacts culture and policy across the globe. She was also hand-picked by the Biden Administration to develop a national framework for workplace safety and harassment. Kelley is a thought leader in the realm of sexual assault, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. She has worked with several federal and international organizations to create safer environments and strategies for violence prevention, including the U.S. Military, Library of Congress, National Academy of Sciences, The United Nations, and NATO.
As a licensed therapist with both a masters in social work and in criminal justice, Kelley built the number one behavioral modification program for the New York State men’s prisons to reduce violence through policy development and program evaluation. She also hosts two daily podcasts called Burn Bright and Black Girl Burnout, with over 50,000 downloads.
Kelley currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland where she enjoys the fine arts, reading, and traveling.
It’s 9pm and I am in a heap on the floor of my bedroom, sobbing. Clothes, papers, and jewelry are strewn about my room from a panicked search. I am working at a prison and I have lost my wallet. It could cost me my job.
I shake as it hits me that the work I love is killing me.
What followed for me was a complete breakdown of my health, career, personal life, and identity. I had experienced burnout. For me, burnout is what happens when we lose the ability to honor ourselves while doing work that we love.
It took years to put the pieces back together. I quit my job, I moved to Europe, I started therapy.
I became obsessed with learning what I could about burnout and developing tools to combat it.
Coming back to myself took some time, but in the process:
I redefined my values.
I developed boundaries.
I created a workplace both myself and my colleagues felt safe and respected.
My career progressed, and before I turned 40 I had a high paying c-suite director position. I had achieved what some people spent their entire career striving for.
But funny thing: the higher I climbed, the less I lived.
I knew, particularly with the challenges of being a leader, that it was only a matter of time before I burned out again. It felt inevitable in that work environment. You see I had changed positions, organizations, and even cities, but I wasn’t yet aware that in burnout, it takes two to tango.
My lack of boundaries, self-worth, and misaligned allegiance to overwork was an inevitable set up. My workplace gave lip service to inclusion and wellness while demonstrating very clearly that what was valued and expected was sacrifice.
Complete self-sacrifice for the “team” was self-betrayal. And when I decided to leave, they were shocked because all of a sudden my allegiance to myself couldn’t be ignored.
And yet I knew it didn’t have to be that way. You shouldn’t have to give your soul in order to excel at your career. There were simple adjustments that could be made that would enable people to work less AND be impactful. There were tools that could be taught that could maximize how we work, so that we could live more.
So I quit my job and started Kelley Bonner Consulting where I’m on a mission to help everyone around me live better, fuller lives by aligning how they work and live.
I’m bringing a new lens to the common challenges faced at work. I have developed an intersectional framework for increasing innovation and inclusion by reducing bias, burnout and harassment in the workplace.
A healthy workplace environment is possible, probable and life changing for the leadership, employees and stakeholders of every organization with which I consult. My work is based on years of research and practical application, and the methodology is results-driven.
I’m on a mission to create a safe and healthy workplace for all employees of every race, age, ethnicity, and gender identity.
Those difficult and complex situations in the workplace that everyone experiences, but no one wants to discuss? That is my forte.
By employing my signature strategy, I reignite the workplace by generating an environment steeped in respect, communication and success.
I take care of the people who take care of the world. How can your team serve others when they’re completely depleted themselves?
Your organization doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be better. I can help your organization be better.
Kelley Bonner, Expert Company Culture Strategist, Award Winning Podcaster and Founder of Kelley Bonner Consulting, transforms workplaces by reducing burnout and bias, resulting in increased innovation and inclusion. She has been called “revolutionary” by Anita Hill and “a benchmark in her field” by the Pentagon. Kelley provides a framework for leaders to understand the deeper organizational issues that lead to symptoms of burnout and how to solve them at their core.
Having served on the Gender Policy Committee for the White House as well as the International Women’s Economic Security Council, Kelley impacts culture and policy across the globe. She was also hand-picked by the Biden Administration to develop a national framework for workplace safety and harassment. Kelley is a thought leader in the realm of sexual assault, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. She has worked with several federal and international organizations to create safer environments and strategies for violence prevention, including the U.S. Military, Library of Congress, National Academy of Sciences, The United Nations, and NATO.
As a licensed therapist with both a masters in social work and in criminal justice, Kelley built the number one behavioral modification program for the New York State men’s prisons to reduce violence through policy development and program evaluation. She also hosts two daily podcasts called Burn Bright and Black Girl Burnout, with over 50,000 downloads.
Kelley currently resides in Silver Spring, Maryland where she enjoys the fine arts, reading, and traveling.
My team of skilled HR professionals, positive psychologists, instructional designers, and expert trainers have extensive experience working in high-performance environments in the U.S. and overseas and can provide training and written materials in both English and Spanish. Whether your employees are exhibiting high levels of burnout, have experienced trauma in the workplace, or are simply struggling under the weight of current events, we can create a customized, actionable plan to offer them support and get your team back on track.
KELLEY BONNER’S DIVERSE TEAM HAS WHAT YOU NEED
combined professional experience
85
years
Advanced degrees and certifications
degrees
publications
90
20
Features in top publications and peer reviewed journals
Kelley’s team by the numbers
Bath
Real Book
HBO Max
Sweet
Dogs
Shower
E-Book
Netflix
Salty
Cats
Traveling in Europe
Sushi
My electric blanket
Running
Fun Fact:
Get to know me
Choose one:
Tiktok or Insta
I lived in Europe for 5 years. It was the best time of my life!
Game time.
These days it’s all the videos, all the time.
Next
I lived in Europe for 5 years. It was the best time of my life!
Choose one:
Radio or Podcast
A good “fluff” romance novel is my guilty pleasure.
I am an avid podcast listener and creator… in fact I’m a bit of an
addict and I host three different ones.
Next
A good “fluff” romance novel is my guilty pleasure.
Choose one:
Netflix or Nightclubs
My first job was at a sporting goods store. I had no idea what any of the teams were and faked it for years.
Tea is life for me!
Next
My first job was at a sporting goods store. I had no idea what any of the teams were and faked it for years.
Choose one:
Netflix or nightclubs
My go-to comfort-binge TV show: Arrested Development seasons 1 and 2 are everything to me!
Give me some comfy PJs and Netflix and I’m a happy gal!
Next
My go-to comfort-binge TV show: Arrested Development seasons 1 and 2 are everything to me!
Choose one:
Morning or night
My drink of choice is a gin and tonic.
I’m definitely a morning girl. Love being up with the sun!
Next
My drink of choice is a gin and tonic.
Brené Brown
Celebrity Gossip
What people are saying
“Kelley’s approach is the perfect combination of science and practical guidance.”
Manager, Research Institute
