Kuae Noel Kelch

National President

Kuae Noel Kelch is an award-winning communications strategist, Emmy-nominated journalist, and longtime nonprofit leader who has spent more than two decades helping shape the growth and national impact of Mocha Moms, Inc.

Since 2010, she has served as National President of the pioneering organization founded in 1997 by four visionary mothers to create sisterhood, support, and service for mothers of color. Today, Mocha Moms, Inc. includes more than 60 chapters across 21 states, serves nearly 2,500 members, and reaches an online community of more than 100,000 followers.

A member of the organization since 2000, Kuae founded the Essex County, NJ Chapter of Mocha Moms in 2001. She joined the National Board in 2003 and has served in multiple national leadership roles, including National Director of Media and Publicity, National Director of Community Service, and National President. During her presidency, she has helped strengthen the organization’s national profile, deepen chapter engagement, and elevate the voices of mothers of color in national conversations about family wellbeing, education, health equity, and economic empowerment.

Known for visionary, member-centered leadership, Kuae has conceptualized some of the organization’s most significant signature initiatives, including Closing the Gap in Health, Prosperity and Achievement, launched in 2006 to tackle health disparities, promote investing and building generational wealth, boost parent engagement and focus on closing educational achievement gaps in schools, and We Are Not Okay, a 2026 initiative addressing the mental, emotional, and civic wellbeing of mothers and families. She also created Occupy Schools, an initiative focused on school engagement and education advocacy, expanded the organization’s national networks to meet evolving member needs, including Mocha Singles and the Grief and Loss Network, and established the national Mocha Book Club.

Among her hallmark accomplishments was helping create the opportunity for nearly 200 Mocha Moms leaders to participate in a historic White House convening during the Obama Administration, engaging directly with senior administration officials on issues affecting women and families. Under her stewardship, Mocha Moms has fused sisterhood and support with civic engagement, thought leadership, and service. The organization has earned national recognition for advocacy, including participation in the 2012 White House Moms Summit and White House convenings focused on Women and the Economy, Women and the Environment, and STEM opportunities for girls. Mocha Moms’ work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Essence, Ebony, NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, and Nightline.

Kuae’s leadership is informed by both lived experience and distinguished professional accomplishment. After spending 13 years as an at-home mother raising three children, she returned to national media and strategic communications with a renewed commitment to women’s leadership and family-centered advocacy. Her reentry journey was featured in The New York Times Magazine cover story, The Opt-Out Generation Wants Back In, and in 2020 she received WarnerMedia’s Richard D. Parsons Community Impact Award for outstanding community leadership and public service.

Professionally, Kuae serves as Founder + CEO of Parkside Avenue Media LLC, a boutique strategic communications advisory she founded to provide senior-level counsel to organizations and leaders navigating complex communications challenges and opportunities. Through Parkside Avenue Media, she serves as a strategic partner and fractional communications executive, advising clients on reputation and brand strategy, media relations, crisis communications, executive positioning, thought leadership and stakeholder engagement. Previously, she was a Senior Vice President at Mercury Public Affairs in New York City, where she advised leaders and institutions navigating complex public, political, and reputational challenges. A former producer at CNN, NBC News, and MSNBC, she has spent more than three decades shaping national conversations at the intersection of media, public policy, and social impact. She has been recognized in amNY's Power Players in Public Relations and Lobbying and City & State's Political PR Power 50.

She holds a B.A. in Print Journalism from Howard University and a Master of Science in Journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She is originally from Philadelphia.