Grace is the CEO and Founder of the GKC Group, a leadership development firm based in Philadelphia. She founded Half The Sky Leadership for Women in 2013 and Quattro Leadership, a co-ed program in 2015. Over 800 high potential leaders have graduated from the programs, which run in multiple cities. In addition, Grace is an in-demand keynote speaker for companies and conferences seeking her leadership expertise and her ability to captivate and motivate audiences. In 2016-2017, Grace spoke in front of 20,000 people, including audiences at the Massachusetts ad Texas Conferences for Women, Watermark Conference For Women in Silicon Valley, the Network of Executive Women National Conference in DC and dozens of corporate meetings.
An accomplished human resource and talent executive, Grace’s work rests on what she has identified as the four cornerstones of leadership: relationships, reputation, results, and resilience. Using these pillars, Grace encourages CEOs, executives, and professionals to elevate their leadership skills and transcend their perceived limitations to achieve sustained business and personal success. She inspires change.
A veteran of the telecommunications industry, Grace served as SVP of Talent and the first ever VP of Talent Management and Leadership Diversity at Comcast Cable Corporation, a Fortune 30 company headquartered in Philadelphia. After a 30+ year career in talent management, human resources, retail, and programming, Grace retired in 2012 to launch a leadership program targeted to women in the middle of the talent pipeline (Half The Sky Leadership). With nearly 400 graduates of the program and partner companies asking for a co-ed program, Grace piloted Quattro Leadership in Fall 2015. As of today, 100+ companies across the country have partnered with GKC Group in support of their high potential employees. Clients include Boeing, SAP, Comcast, Citibank, Charter, Disney/ESPN, PECO, Equifax and The Coca-Cola Company.
In 2013, Grace was selected to serve on the Board of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania. GSEP serves 41,000 girls in partnership with 15,000 volunteers in the nine county Philadelphia area. Today, 80 percent of women in leadership and executive roles in the U.S. were Girl Scouts. Girl Scout alumnae comprise 70 percent of women in the U.S. Congress.
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A sampling of Grace’s many honors and awards include: “Wonder Woman” by Multichannel News; “Women on the Move” by CableFax’s; “Women in Power” by DiversityPlus magazine; “Mentor of the Year” by WICT Northern California Chapter; and “Lucille Larkin Lifetime Achievement Award” by WICT Philadelphia Chapter. Since founding The GKC Group, Grace has been awarded the SmartCEO Brava Award for being a Top Philadelphia Female CEO (2015), noted as a 2016 Woman to Watch by PhillyBiz Magazine and selected as a “Smart, Bold, Strong” honoree by Girls Inc. of Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey (2016). She recently spoke at TEDxPasadenaWomen on “Making The Jump – Year of No Fear”
She is a certified Birkman Consultant and also trained at the prestigious Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, NC, considered to be one of the best leadership programs in the United States. Grace earned her Master’s Degree in Human Resources from American University’s Kogod School of Business and Public Affairs. Grace’s book, “The Confidence Effect” published by AMACOM, was listed as one of the top business books of 2016 by INC.com and has been one of the top 10 best-selling books for Women in Business on Amazon.com.
