Shan Cooper Speech

Shan Cooper, entrepreneur of Journey Forward Strategies, gave advice on how to incorporate personal values into the workplace at the Mason Public Leadership Lecture hosted by the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia on Wednesday.

 

Throughout Cooper’s time in corporate America, she was often one of the only woman in the workplace. Gender issues were not a regular problem she navigated, but they were still a part of her work experiences. 

 

Cooper said she always went back to her personal values that she was raised on. Her father was a pastor and he installed personal values in her such as integrity, loving people and respecting people.

 

“Integrity was huge in our home,” said Cooper. “So you always told the truth. Love of people, regardless of how they’re packaged, you know, regardless of the color of their skin, you know. My dad would say 'we’re all God’s creation right?' Respect for people.”

 

Cooper said if a child is born into poverty in the city of Atlanta they had a “4.8% chance of getting out of poverty” unless something was directly done that impacted their life. 

 

Cooper said she grew up poor, so she knew she “couldn’t know that and not do something about it.”

 

Along with speaking about her values, she also gave her biggest piece of advice for addressing conflict within an organization. Cooper said the “first step is listening, being a good listener so you can understand where truth is.”

 

Eleisha Cazaubon, a Leonard Scholar, said her biggest takeaway from Cooper’s speech was to listen, “Listening. Listening is very important; being an active listener.”

 

There were about 250 attendees at the event hosted at the UGA Chapel.

 

Cooper has received many awards in her life and has had many accomplishments. She was awarded the 2021 Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Women of Influence Lifetime Achievement Award, named the Georgia Trade Magazine’s 2015 Most Respected Business Leader, named the 2015 Women of the Year by the American Association of University Women, was one of the Georgia Trade Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Georgians during the span of multiple years and was one of Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Power 100.