Aerial Ellis

Dr. Aerial Ellis is a strategist and storyteller. As a certified executive coach, she specializes in culturally competent coaching for underrepresented executive leaders, and legacy development for high-profile public figures. Corporate clients have included Asurion, AIG, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, and Starbucks, among others. Aerial has been awarded the Nashville Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 and the Women of Influence “Trailblazer” award and was named Nashville’s Top 30 Under 30. She is author of The Original Millennial, a book highlighting six lessons of leadership for millennials and accompanied by a professional development curriculum for the intergenerational workplace. Aerial served the Endowed Chair/Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mass Communication at North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina. She has been a speaker for SXSW, ColorComm and the National Urban League. She has been quoted as an expert source by Ebony, Fortune and NPR. Her global work includes immersions in Hong Kong, Finland, London, South Africa and Qatar teaching, researching, coaching and consulting as an expert in intercultural communication and competence. Aerial has a bachelor's degree from Tennessee State University and a master's degree from Middle Tennessee State University - both in communication/journalism, holds a certification in diversity and inclusion from UCLA and the National Organization for Workforce Diversity and certification in Personal and Executive Coaching from the CAPP Institute, and holds a doctoral degree from the Global Executive Doctor of Education program at the University of Southern California.