About Mona Khalil
I learned early that I had to earn my worth.
Work harder. Achieve more. Prove it. So I did. Over and over and over again.
The Early Years
After earning a B.A. in International Studies from UC San Diego, I joined the Peace Corps and spent two years in Morocco working on youth and community development. Largely isolated from other Americans, I turned to reflective writing to process my experiences, maintain clarity, and stay grounded. That practice saved me more times than I realized.
I came home believing I had found my path in nonprofit and community development work. Mission-driven work that enabled me to extend my volunteer work professionally. I thought I was working in my lifetime industry.
Why Not Me?
Fast forward, and then came tech. Tesla. LinkedIn. Fortune 500 organizations. And I completed my Executive MBA while working full-time and transitioning between jobs.
At Tesla, I founded the Intersectionality Employee Resource Group while working in Global Business Operations. At LinkedIn, I created and led cross-functional Talent Acquisition programs, designing and delivering leadership and talent development initiatives across the organization.
I took on senior program management and executive consulting roles. On paper, I was succeeding.
I was also disappearing, again.
It did not happen all at once. The gap between how I was told to work and how I wanted to live and lead grew slowly, the way most important things do. I kept writing. The reflective practice I developed in Morocco stayed with me through every work environment, performance review, and promotion.
During this season, I allocated time to my creativity. I published my first book of poetry, I Write Letters in My Thoughts, and performed my poetry across the Bay Area. Writing was the place where I could still hear myself think.
Keeping My Soul Intact
After more than 20 years across Peace Corps, nonprofits, Big Tech, and Fortune 500 environments, I had built a life that looked like success. The higher I rose, the more I witnessed performance over impact. The environments I wanted to trust stopped being safe. The accomplishments I had worked for were being minimized. The version of myself I had built for external opportunities was costing more than I was willing to pay. I had to make a decision with no guaranteed outcome.
Betting On Myself
For years, I bet on the institutions around me. This time, I bet on myself.
I’m a Hudson Certified Coach, trained in executive and leadership coaching through the Hudson Institute of Coaching, a program accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). I also hold an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential from the ICF. Together, that meant more than 60 hours of coach-specific training, over 100 hours of coaching clients, and 10 hours of mentor coaching. Beyond certification, I’ve completed coaching supervision, and I follow the ICF Code of Ethics in every session.
I coach others while continuing my own work in therapy and the reflective writing practice that has kept me grounded since Morocco. I keep pouring into myself because I hold myself to the same standard of growth I bring to this work. Who you are is how you coach.
Everything I learned in Morocco, in work environments, through poetry, grief, and transformation became the foundation for how I partner with others.
Study Yourself®
Today, I partner with high-achieving professionals to recognize their patterns and strengthen self-trust through the Study Yourself® practice.
This work does not ask you to start from scratch. Even when change is significant, you choose from experience, insight, and what you keep learning about yourself. Sometimes clarity leads to staying. Sometimes it leads to leaving. And sometimes it means starting small, one conversation, one action, that you can return to and build on when you're ready for more.
You do not have to erase what you have built to become who you are. Clarity is not about starting over. It is about trusting the voice that has been telling you the truth all along.
Dear Mango®
Dear Mango began as a personal inquiry. A quiet curiosity about my name, lineage across cultures, and our collective love of mangoes. Like mangoes that traveled across oceans and took root everywhere, we all carry stories that connect us. Come write yours with us in Dear Mango Monthly Pages.
Education and Credentials
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Coaching
Associate Certified Coach (ACC), International Coaching Federation
Hudson Coach Certification Program, Hudson Institute of Coaching -
Leadership and Business
Inner MBA: Conscious Leadership and Mindful Business Development,
New York University
Executive MBA, Saint Mary's College of California
Advanced Project Management Certificate, Stanford University -
Community and Foundation
Multicultural Board Leadership Academy Certificate, CompassPoint
Professional Certificate in Nonprofit Management, Cal State Northridge
B.A. International Studies, University of California, San Diego