Great Minds, Great Conversations: Leadership in a Squid Game World
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Join us as these trail blazers discuss the challenges of contemporary leadership, leadership differences from then to now, diversity in the workplace, and share lessons learned of what it takes to lead.
This Great Minds, Great Conversations event will feature Marc Strachan ’81, Chairman of the Adelphi University Board of Trustees, and Luke Cooper ’98 and will be moderated by Dr. Andrea Ward, Associate Dean for Student Success and Strategic Initiatives.
Speaker Bios
Luke Cooper ’98
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Luke Cooper ’98 is a tech entrepreneur with multiple $25M exits, and one of only three Black founders in the U.S. to reach a multi-million dollar exit during the pandemic. Most recently, he was the Founder and CEO of Fixt, an on-demand technology company focused on enterprise tech support, servicing Fortune 500 clients all over the U.S. In 2020, Fixt sold to insurance giant Assurant.
Luke has been very busy since selling Fixt. In addition to investing in and advising companies in his personal portfolio, he is also a partner at Preface Ventures, a $23M fund focused on enterprise SaaS. Cooper’s latest venture, Latimer, is a $500M fund focused on creating outcomes for women and BIPOC owned businesses. He also serves as an EIR at multiple institutions, providing counsel to students and leaders.
Luke’s book Mud to Magic: A Black Tech Entrepreneur’s Journey is set to release in late 2021.
Marc Stephenson Strachan ’81
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Always thinking forward, and looking for new ideas, Marc Stephenson Strachan ’81 continues to bring significant credentials to the Marketing & Advertising Industry. He is the former Executive Vice President and Chief Client Officer of Publicis.Sapient. A role in which he managed an expansive team of senior executive agency leaders, to drive client marketing dynamics, and corporate revenue. In his prior role at Diageo, North America, Marc was responsible for the development of three-tier initiatives, which drive local market commercial, marketing and corporate relations programming. Marc also provided executive leadership and guidance to a national diaspora of constituents that had an interest in the Beverage Alcohol industry. Marc also held positions as North America Vice president of On Premise Strategy and Multicultural Marketing, Director of Brand Marketing for Ciroc Vodka, and Tanqueray Gin, overseeing the USA marketing and strategic initiatives for the Brands. Marc’s career combines over thirty years of agency and client management experience on a variety of levels. Marc began his career on Madison Avenue as a MAIP Intern at Compton Advertising (now Saatchi). His career has seen stints at NW Ayer, The Mingo Group, Leo Burnett (where he co-founded Vigilante), and BBDO. His focus on strategic, niche marketing and targeted program development is one of the keys to his career accomplishments. Marc is the Chair of the Board of ADCOLOR, Inc. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Adelphi University; on the Board of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, as a member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Development committee; and was a former member of the Board of Directors of the Association of National Advertisers, and the New York Council and Diversity Committees of the American Association of Advertising Agencies. A recipient of numerous industry awards and accolades, Marc is a proud native of Brooklyn, New York. Marc and his family currently reside in Manhattan, New York.
Moderator Bio
Andrea Ward
![Andrea Ward](https://eventcalendar.adelphi.edu/live/image/gid/2/width/160/height/220/1293_ward.rev.1636040182.jpg)
Andrea Ward, PhD has been a member of the Adelphi community since 2007. She is currently the Associate Dean of Student Success and Strategic Initiatives in the College of Arts and Sciences and a Professor of Biology. Previously she served as the Chair for the Department of Biology and Director for the Health Sciences program. Dr. Ward has been a Viret Family Faculty Leadership Fellow. She has been honored by Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society with the Academic Advisor Recognition Award and by the Student Government Association with the Women’s Recognition Award for Faculty. Dr. Ward is an active teacher-scholar, publishing with undergraduate and graduate students on functional morphology in fishes. Dr. Ward received her PhD. in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and was a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Chicago.