Latoya Cauley

A passion for finance—and a desire to help the community

Beating cancer was just the beginning for Latoya Cauley.

“I recognized that life stands still for no one and I wanted to fulfill a promise to myself to finish my education and pursue my professional goals,” she explained.

Having been a tax professional for nearly 20 years, Latoya started out thinking she would continue her education to become a licensed accountant. However, once she got back into the classroom at Kennedy-King College, she realized that she could combine her passion for finance and her desire to give back to the community by teaching financial literacy.

That started her down a path to not only earn her associate degree in business administration from Kennedy-King College in 2016, but her bachelor’s degree in the same discipline from Saint Xavier University in 2018. Now she plans on starting to work toward her master’s degree in non-profit administration.

Even though she has continued working full-time throughout her education, Latoya has carved out time to volunteer for many cancer survivor-focused non-profits. She was also a member of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society at KKC, and earned an academic scholarship to Saint Xavier University – all while raising five children. And she knows she is setting a positive example for them – including the daughter who graduated the same day she did from Kennedy-King College in 2016.

Her advice to anyone thinking about returning to school would be, “Go! Do it! While you’re thinking about it, that could be time spent making progress.”