Holly Kobia

Holly Kobia is an executive leader, entrepreneur, and business owner whose career has spanned journalism, higher education, nonprofit leadership, fundraising, and small business ownership.

Holly spent more than a decade at Virginia Tech, where she held progressive senior leadership roles in advancement, ultimately serving as Assistant Dean of Advancement in both the College of Architecture and Urban Studies and the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. During her time at Virginia Tech, she raised more than $100 million and worked closely with deans, faculty, university leaders, alumni, and corporate partners while leading teams responsible for fundraising, communications, and engagement. Her experience in higher education gave her a firsthand understanding of leadership within a large, complex organization and the importance of bringing people, strategy, and communication together around shared goals.

Alongside her executive career, Holly became a business owner in 2023 when she and her husband, Micah, acquired a Fit Body Boot Camp franchise in Blacksburg. Since the acquisition, they have expanded the business, built a full-time leadership team, added new services and lines of business, and grown the organization into one of the stronger-performing locations within the franchise system. Business ownership has given Holly an additional perspective on leadership, operations, culture, employee development, customer experience, and the everyday realities of growing and managing a small business.

In 2025, Holly founded Kobia Consulting, LLC, a fundraising and nonprofit development firm that works with nonprofit executives and boards to strengthen fundraising, leadership, strategy, communication, and organizational capacity. Her work brings together lessons from each stage of her career: building and leading teams, developing strategy, managing change, communicating effectively, and turning ideas into action.

Holly began her career as an award-winning television journalist, working as a reporter, anchor, bureau chief, and producer in her hometown of Pittsburgh, Bluefield, WV, and at WDBJ7 in Roanoke. She earned three Edward R. Murrow Awards for her work in broadcast journalism. Her connection to Virginia Tech and the Hokie community actually began during those years. She started covering Virginia Tech and the New River Valley as a journalist in 2005.

The Hokie connection extends beyond Holly’s professional life. Her husband and business partner, Micah, is a former Town of Blacksburg police officer, and their family has deep roots in the community. These days, much of their time outside of work is spent keeping up with their young son’s athletics practices and games.

A former collegiate athlete, Holly holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications from Point Park University and completed graduate coursework in Public Administration and Policy at Virginia Tech.