Coletta Strickland is a graduate of The University of Texas – Austin.  After graduation she began her career at IBM in Fort Worth.  At IBM, she honed her leadership skills as a Systems Engineer and Marketing Representative. She received many achievement awards during her career at IBM but the crowning glory was when she was awarded the IBM Eagle as one of the top 3 Marketing Representatives in the United States. She has also enjoyed success as a Financial Planner and a Mortgage Broker.  Her career choices all focused on serving others.

Coletta has served on the Board of Directors of many organizations in the DFW area, among them Jubilee Theatre, Imagination Celebration, IBM Employees Federal Credit Union, FW Association of Federated Women's Clubs and FW/TC Minority Leaders & Citizens Council and always in a leadership role. Her years of service as a Board Member taught her how critical it is to help keep our non-profit organizations viable thru foundation, corporate and grassroots support.

Ever focused on serving others, Coletta was honored as Volunteer of the Year by Arts and Business Connection and as a KRLD & Guaranty Banks “Citizen of the Week” and the L. Clifford Davis Legal Association for outstanding community service.

Coletta has been actively involved in the Fort Worth arts and business community for over 30 years and has recently made Fort Worth her home.  Passionate about her adopted hometown, Ms. Strickland is a tireless community advocate and currently serves as President of Ft. Worth/Tarrant County Minority Leaders and Citizen Council (MLCC) and has previously served as President and Vice President-Development for Imagination Fort Worth. In addition, Coletta worked with the Fort Worth Business Assistance Center (BAC) mentoring budding entrepreneurs by helping them develop their skills and define the business plans needed to get their businesses off the ground.  She has shown her steadfast support for Fort Worth’s regional black theater, Jubilee Theatre, by serving on their Board of Directors and as Interim Managing Director.  On a personal note, Coletta took in and helped raise four of her nieces and nephews.  She is always available and willing to lend a helping hand.

It is very fitting that Ms. Strickland is being honored as a community leader, since she exemplifies the traits of a community leader...decisiveness, accountability, empathy, honesty, respect, fairness, and thoughtfulness, among others.  So many people join organizations and committees to make themselves look good, but Coletta gets involved for the good of the organization and the community.  Coletta assesses the needs of the organization, determines where she can make a contribution and proceeds to do just that…make an impact.

Her husband - Blake, her family and her BFF - Lynda support her in all of her endeavors.