Profile

Patrice Dawkins-Jackson is the Founder & Senior Consultant of Finish What You Started, a consulting firm that helps executive leaders in transition—especially during mergers, acquisitions, and leadership changes—lead through uncertainty with a human-centered approach to change. She is the creator of the Change With(in)™ Framework, a research-based methodology that equips leaders to do change with people, not to them, by centering psychological safety, the psychology of change, and resistance as data.

Previously, Patrice served as Director of Organizational Learning & Adviser to the President at the Carnegie Foundation, where she designed people & culture strategies, led nationwide networks focused on improving educational and leadership outcomes, built early-career talent pipelines, and counseled senior leadership on organizational transformation. Earlier, she spent 14 years as an instructional leader in Fulton County Schools and twice served as a U.S. Department of Education Teaching Ambassador Fellow, championing teacher leadership and partnering with TEACH.org and the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans to support the recruitment and development of teachers of color.

An advocate for belonging and leadership development, Patrice has contributed to research and publications on DEIB and organizational change and has served on nonprofit boards and national advisory groups. She holds an M.Ed. and a B.S. in Early Childhood Education (University of Central Florida), a CAPM® from PMI. She is a doctoral candidate in the Penn Chief Learning Officer EdD program at the University of Pennsylvania.

When she’s not coaching executives or speaking, Patrice enjoys life with her husband and two sons—her “joy on legs”—along with fashion, cooking, hiking, and Pilates. Her north star: “Someone is waiting for the leader you’re becoming—finish what you started.”