We started the Podcast Series with the intension to guide new and recent graduates to become quality professionals in these worrying COVID-19 times as they seek their new careers and adjust to the new realities outside the walls of their college campuses. We have invited employers and HR-related professionals from various industries to share experiences, guidance, information, instruction, and recommendations for graduates. Our hope is for new and recent graduates to strategically navigate new useful ideas to deal with realities never taught in college.

For this month’s episode, we interviewed Celena Evans, an enterprising business professional with exceptional repertoire of experiences across many industries. Celena Evans is the founder and president of Meliora Consulting. She is a strategic senior-level professional with over 20 years’ experience across several industries in business management, market strategy, product management and development, and project management roles with multi-billion-dollar corporations. She is known for developing innovative solutions that successfully meet both customer and company needs, while bridging strategy and execution to consistently deliver exceptional results. A licensed REALTOR in Georgia and a Project Management Professional (PMP, she is highly skilled at leveraging internal and external relationships and leading through change. During her corporate tenure she realized that she has tremendous passion for working in a consultative manner with a variety of businesses to solve unique problems, optimize processes, and bring new opportunities to fruition.

Celena is also passionate about community, mentoring, talent development, and diversity. She is an avid supporter of organizations that focus on women, minorities, children, and education. She is a member of the board of trustees for Literacy Action, the oldest and largest adult education program in the Southeast. She served on the Emory University Executive Women of Goizueta alumnae board from 2008 to 2013 and held positions of President, as well as Chair of the Advisory Board. She served as a board member of Economic Empowerment Initiative from 2004-2010. She has mentored many young women through programs offered by Emory University, Spelman College, Pathbuilders, and several non-profit organizations. In recognition of her leadership in business and commitment to the community, Celena was named to the 2009 “Top 40 under 40” by the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

Ms. Evans holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech, and an M.B.A. from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. She is a 2009 graduate of the Pathbuilders Achieva program for high-performing people. She is also Pragmatic Marketing Certified, and a Toastmasters Competent Communicator.