In an age of hyper-specialization, Skye Blanks stands out as a business leader who defies conventional boundaries. As Chief Operations Officer of the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), founder of Herman Todd Consulting Group, and co-founder of Premo Cannabis Company, Blanks exemplifies a new model of leadership that draws strength from diversity of experience rather than narrow specialization.
“Leadership isn’t confined to a single industry or role,” says Blanks, whose career spans international policy development, strategic consulting, and retail operations. “The most valuable insights often come from connecting seemingly unrelated fields and applying lessons from one sector to challenges in another.”
This cross-pollination approach has defined Blanks’ leadership journey since his early career. After putting himself through college and earning an MBA with a financial management certification, he served as a Treasury Scholar in the U.S. Department of the Treasury — experiences that built a foundation in economics and policy that informs his approach across all his ventures.
“My policy background shapes everything from our retail strategy to how we structure our consulting services,” Blanks explains. “Understanding economic trends and regulatory frameworks gives us perspective that purely operational leaders might miss.”
This comprehensive vision has proven particularly valuable in his role at ICSB, where Blanks leads global initiatives supporting small business development and directs the organization’s Knowledge Hubs Program. His contributions to the Annual Global MSME Report and speaking engagements at the United Nations for MSME Day demonstrate how he translates ground-level business insights into policy recommendations.
“Effective policy must be informed by practical business reality,” he notes. “My work across different sectors allows me to bridge these worlds — bringing market insights to policy discussions and helping businesses understand the broader economic context of their operations.”
Blanks’ leadership extends beyond his executive roles into active mentorship. As a startup mentor at Yale’s Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking, he guides student entrepreneurs by drawing on his diverse business experience. Recently appointed to the Advisory Council of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, he also helps shape educational opportunities for the next generation of leaders.
“Leadership development requires both formal education and practical guidance,” Blanks emphasizes. “I’m committed to providing the kind of mentorship I wished I had early in my journey — connecting academic principles with marketplace realities.”
This commitment to developing future leaders stems from Blanks’ own experience navigating professional advancement without inherited connections. “I lacked clear guidance on how to enter and excel in professional spaces,” he recalls. “Finding mentors who could provide valuable insights changed everything for me.”
Now, through his consulting practice and advisory roles, Blanks focuses particularly on supporting minority entrepreneurs and first-generation business leaders. This work builds on his experience with CNHED’s ELEVATE Program, where he helped minority-owned small businesses in D.C. gain critical business skills.
His approach to leadership challenges traditional silos between profit-driven business and social impact. “Economic opportunity starts with access — access to education, mentorship, capital, and networks,” Blanks explains. “A successful business that doesn’t create broader community benefits is a missed opportunity.”
This integrated perspective has earned recognition, including the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Service Award from GW Division for Student Affairs and the ICSB President’s Award — acknowledgments of his exceptional leadership in both business development and community impact.
Looking ahead, Blanks aims to expand his influence through formal leadership development programs and potentially as an adjunct professor. “My goal is creating structured frameworks that help the next generation navigate complex business environments while maintaining focus on both economic and social outcomes,” he shares.
For organizations seeking leadership development strategies, Blanks offers this advice: “The most effective leaders are those who can translate between different contexts — connecting global trends with local action, policy with practice, and profit with purpose. Develop these translation skills, and you transform leadership from position to impact.”
It’s a perspective that’s positioning Blanks not just as a successful business leader, but as an architect of a more integrated approach to leadership itself — one that values versatility, accessibility, and meaningful impact across traditional boundaries.
