IDC® Member Spotlight

Meet Ken D. Coopwood, Sr., Ph.D., CDE®, HBDICP, CDROI

International Diversity Educator, Writer, and Leader

CEO, Coop Di Leu, LLC

Dr. Ken Coopwood, Sr., excelled rapidly in diversity education, employee relations, cognitive science, and identity development. He is a four-time senior-level diversity executive and has served in three states. He holds international and national certifications, including credentials from Harvard University, the American Association for State Colleges and Universities, and is a Certified Diversity Executive (CDE)® from the Institute for Diversity Certification. “Dr. Coop,” as students and colleagues affectionately call him, is the CEO of Coop Di Leu, the acronym for Coopwood Diversity Leadership and Education Universal. Coop Di Leu’s clientele includes entities in the United States, Belize, Romania, and other countries.

He is an internationally known diversity paradigm-shifter whose efforts have afforded him honors. These include Missouri’s One of 12 People to Know in 2012, The Society for Diversity’s Member of the Year in 2014, and Insight Into Diversity’s National Visionary Award in 2015. His 2016 research on the lived experience of chief diversity officers drew the most substantial response rate nationally for such research. His February 2017 webinar: “Clarifying Campus Climate Initiatives,” drew 350+ attendees. His 2018 Boot Camp was the first nationwide to address and train about chief diversity officer lived experiences. His book chapter, Engaging Faculty in Campus Transformation: The Diversity Fellows Program, was published in 2018 and presented to the Association for the Advancement of Educational Research International (AAERI). Dr. Coop serves on The Society for Diversity board and is the principal researcher and developer of national certification for colleges and universities in collaboration with Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. He also authorizes a 2023 identity development book series for adolescents, The Chronicles of Coop Di Leu.

Dr. Coopwood resides in Charlotte, NC, serving various agencies nationwide and locally as Director for Education at his fraternity’s fifth largest chapter in the country. Federal agencies, law enforcement, community colleges, universities, state departments, and local youth agencies can attest to the esteem and education received from Dr. Coop’s engagement.

Dr. Coopwood believes that diversity management is a prerequisite for effective change. Knowledge of people (cultural, psychological, and spiritual) is often absent when implementing structural reform. He asserts that people are often more interested in their perceptions of others than others’ realities. He is known for his beliefs and educational philosophy: “In a nation where speculations of money, health, poverty, and policy rank supreme in the conscience of the public mind, the most tragic and destructive display of human judgment is still that which conceals the absolute truth of a people,” and thrives on serving organizations via simple truth as expressed by Bowman and Deal, “Problems arise when [a] structure [does not] align with circumstances.”