A specialist in organizational behavior, she focuses her research on the challenges and opportunities offered by mentoring relationships and on how these relationships may be changing as a result of increasing workforce diversity. She is particularly interested in the issues women face as they develop mentoring relationships and the dynamics of formal mentoring programs in both corporate and educational settings. Blake-Beard has consulted on issues of diversity, mentoring program implementation, and team building for organizations that include Chase Manhattan Bank, The Compact for Faculty Diversity, and PepsiCo. She also sits on the advisory boards of Essence magazine's Best Places for African American Women to Work, MentorNet, and the Harvard Project on Tenure.