Kelly Fair is the Founder of Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program. Founded ten years ago, Polished Pebbles has helped more than 3,000 girls in Illinois, Indiana, and Texas find their voice, improve their communication skills, and build their skills for future careers. “We don’t want to just help girls get jobs and enter the workplace. Our vision is really to see girls shape the future workplace. So we want to educate girls to find their voices, to be strong in their everyday lives, to strengthen their voices in their communities and their schools, but also as they move into the workplace and learn what that environment is like, to find their voice and say, “Hey, I can be a leader, and if I’m leading, this is what it should look like.”

​

Kelly sees herself as an advocate. “I’m a social entrepreneur, I work to empower girls and empower our communities because others invested in me as a young professional.”

​

Kelly is a sought-after speaker for mentoring, communication skills, girls’ development and job readiness, professional leadership development, and social entrepreneurship. She’s a dynamic storyteller, communications expert, and relatable voice with the keen ability to penetrate the hearts of women with her honesty and expertise. Through her authentic conversational speaking style, she connects across socioeconomic statuses, intergenerationally, and cross-culturally—making her a phenomenal speaker or training facilitator in a conference setting.

​

Her ability to “polish pebbles”, helping young women and girls shine, has brought her recognition from Bank of America, ComEd, Verizon, Google, Duke University, DuSable Museum of African American History, Social Enterprise Alliance, and more.

Since launching Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program, Kelly’s signature communications and job readiness programming has expanded from elementary age girls to include high school, college programs, families, prominent women leaders, and to sites in Northwest Indiana, Dallas, Texas, and North Carolina.

​

Kelly has been featured in Ebony magazine, The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC, The Chicago Sun-Times, and Chicago Woman magazine.

You can learn more about Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program at http://polishedpebbles.com/about-us/.