Jeffrey Cookson

Jeffrey Cookson, executive coach and master facilitator at LCW, brings 30 years of experience in organizational development, intercultural competence, and diversity and inclusion training and consulting in both the domestic and international contexts, excelling at helping individuals, organizations, and systems understand and address complex and sometimes controversial topics.

An ethnic Magyar (Hungarian) who grew up in a bilingual, bicultural household in the U.S., Jeffrey previously served as a Global Diversity Inclusion specialist at MRA–Trusight and held professional academic appointments at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities within Multicultural Affairs. At LCW, he routinely uses the Intercultural Conflict Styles Inventory and is a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), having conducted hundreds of individual and group feedback sessions and worked with nationals in more than 50 countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East.

A representative list of clients served includes 3M, Allstate, Boston Consulting Group, Boston Scientific, Cartier, Caterpillar, IPG Mediabrands, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Prudential, Ryan Companies, Unilever, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo. Since 2009, Jeffrey has served on faculty at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota teaching at the graduate level in the Management Program.

Having earned a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and today residing in Minneapolis, Jeffrey is proud to have been theatrical director at the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, Office of First Year and Orientation Programs, for 25 years. This year’s conference marks his 12th presentation at The Forum in 20 years of attendance.