Like many women in Frisco, Angelia Pelham has amassed an impressive resume. She started off as an HR executive for 32 years, opened up her own coaching and consulting firm, Real-Talk Executive Coaching & Mentoring, led a foundation for Frisco students all while being a wife and mother.
A Florida native from Pensacola, Pelham holds a degree from Florida State University and a master’s from Rollins College. Throughout her career, she has been featured in publications such as Black Enterprise Magazine, Savoy Magazine, and Plano Profile.
But Pelham’s impact in Frisco is not just defined by her business and charitable endeavors, she also holds a position on the Frisco City Council, Place 3, and has held that position since June 2021.
To better know this Frisco leader, Wingspan caught up with Pelham to learn her values and goals.
Wingspan: What’s your education background?
Pelham: “That was a long time ago. I have a master’s degree in Human Resources Management. I obtained that degree from Rollins College in Winter Park, FL and I also have a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University in Tallahassee.”
Wingspan: And before you were a councilwoman, what did you do?
Pelham: “I’m still continuing to do what I have done for the past 34 years. I’m a human resources executive. I’ve worked with companies such as the Walt Disney World company, PepsiCo, Frito Lay, Cinemark, Dave & Busters, all in the field of human resources, and currently, I own a consulting firm that focuses on human resources and people strategies.”
Wingspan: We’ll circle back to your career, but as a Florida native, how did you make your way to Texas? To Frisco?
Pelham: “I was relocated by my corporation. I was with Frito Lay at the time and they relocated my daughter, my husband and me to Frisco to be near their corporate headquarters which is in Plano right off of Legacy Dr.”
Wingspan: Once you got to Frisco, what made you decide to run for a seat on the council?
Pelham: “I ran about four years ago for an open seat on the council. An open seat is when an incumbent has termed out and so you’re not running against an incumbent. I decided to run because I was at a point in my career where I had left corporations, I was doing my own consulting firm, and I had some time on my hands and knew that I wanted to contribute to the city in a meaningful. I wanted to use my business experience and insight to help the city grow.” 
Wingspan: A councilwoman and a business owner. That must be a busy schedule, so could you walk us through your day-to-day?
Pelham: “At my firm, we do all things executive coaching, business consulting, so on any given day I could be coaching a number of women, because that is my focus, coaching women in the workplace. So I could be in a coaching session with a number of women, I could be at an off-site with senior executives, facilitating their off-sites, I could be consulting with an executive on a strategic people plan, or change management issue.”
Wingspan: Now you’re one of three women on the council, and one of two women of color on the council, so how does your identity play a part in your decision-making?
Pelham: “I think it’s hard to separate who you are and how you see the world. It’s not something that you do, it’s something that you are. I am a woman, I am a woman of color, that is how I see the world. So, yes, I make decisions based on what I think is in the best interest of Frisco. And my focus is really on ensuring that when I do make decisions, people that look like me are taken into consideration.”
Wingspan: Pelham is also on the board of Medical City Plano and Medical City Frisco hospitals. How have you become such an involved member of the community?
Pelham: “I have a passion for this community. I think Frisco has a lot to offer, and if you have a heart to serve, there are ample opportunities to get involved. I was asked to join Medical City Frisco and Medical City Plano because they were looking for a business mind to be on the board, and I accepted that opportunity. It’s been really great to learn the interworking of how hospitals make decisions in the community, and I think for Frisco, we continue to grow and bring more people here, having sufficient medical facilities and medical technologies is crucial for us.”
Wingspan: You’ve had quite the career from being an HR executive to a VP, what made you specifically turn more towards service work?
Pelham: “I would say it was less of a turn, I still do human resources, that will always be my career. So less of a turn and more of an expansion. I expanded my work more formally into public service, I’ve always been in the community, serving my community in a number of ways. I have a non-profit. We just awarded over $100,000 in scholarships at our Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Oration Gala.”
Wingspan: Diving deeper into that non-profit organization, how did this start for you 15 years ago?
Pelham: “It started predominantly because at that time we didn’t have a lot of diverse offerings in out community that acknowledged the Martin Luther King holiday or anything that acknowledged diversity. We wanted to ensure that we had a footprint in our city, so we decided to launch the MLK Oration Competition. Oration is near and dear to my heart. It was a competition that I won in high school, so I have a passion around that. We decided to merge the two ideas together, a celebration of Dr. King’s birthday and his legacy and an oration competition for students, and it just began 15 years ago.”
Wingspan: Why do you believe a figure such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is important to the City of Frisco?
Pelham: “I think Martin Luther King’s legacy is so important, not only for Frisco but for our country and our world. His whole platform is about understanding differences from one to another and celebrating those differences in a way that unites us. He has a quote that says, ‘we may have come on different ships to this country, but we’re all in the same boat now’ and that’s the reality. We may have people that come from different areas of the country or even out of the country to Frisco, but we’re all one Frisco now. I think it’s really important for us to echo that.” 
Wingspan: At the 15th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Oration gala, his son, Martin Luther King III, was the keynote speaker of the event. How were you able to bring him on for this gala?
Pelham: “He was invited because this was our 15th and final MLK Oration Gala. He actually met my daughter when he was taking his daughter on a tour at Columbia University, and my daughter is the VIP campus tour guide. She met him and she shared with him what we do every year and how we honor his father. She made the connection for me and then I took it from there. We shared out vision and what we wanted to get done, and we were able to negotiate a deal with him to get him here.”
Wingspan: As a successful woman, leader, and businesswoman, what would your message be to the students of Frisco ISD?
Pelham: “I would say follow your dreams. Know who you are, be true to who you are, and realize that we’re all in this together. Divisiveness gets us nowhere at the end of the day and we all want the same things. We all want to be successful. We all want a good and prosperous life. Realize that we can do that gether as opposed to being an opponent of one another.”
