Cordell Carter, Esq.
Coalition Member
Advisor | Board Director | Belonging Evangelist
Cordell brings more than 20 years to his pursuit of a society and organizational cultures where everyone belongs and enjoy equitable opportunities to thrive. He is currently managing principal of Expectant Advisory, an equity-focused consulting collaborative and the executive director of the Aspen Institute Socrates Program, a global education forum and the founding director of the Aspen Institute’s Project on Belonging. Finally, Cordell founded the Festival of the Diaspora, a convener of diasporic communities across the Americas and Western Balkans. Before his current roles, Cordell held leadership roles with the TechTown Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle Public Schools, Business Roundtable, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, and the IBM Corporation.
For the Aspen Institute, he curates more than three dozen off the-record leadership seminars annually in capital cities around the world reaching more than 1,000 leaders each year. He is also leading the Aspen Institute’s efforts to shift the national conversation on racial equity and inclusion from compliance to belonging via two annual summits entitled “Visionaries Summit: The Future of Belonging in America” and the “Festival of the Diaspora.” As the creator and lead facilitator of “Becoming an Inclusive Republic and producer of the documentary “The Road Trip to Belonging”, he is a sought-after facilitator and speaker on belonging and inclusion, post-secondary success, and democratic ideals. Over the several years, he has delivered dozens of keynote speeches, facilitated roundtables and moderated panels all over the globe. Through Expectant Advisory, Cordell advises leaders and boards of directors at various points on their enterprise-wide inclusion and belonging learning journeys.
With respect to national unity, Cordell is evangelizing a certain theory of action that the real discussion should be about belonging and inclusion for all. As we seek elevate the national dialogue on challenging topics such as equity, let’s focus on the desired outcome (a society where everyone belongs and has equitable opportunities to thrive) rather than the strategy (diversity, equity and inclusion) that we are employing to get to that outcome. Given that trust in leadership and institutions are at an all-time low, it is inadequate to simply tell people they belong, we must show them pathways to success.
Cordell’s leadership has been recognized all over the USA. In June 2021, President Joseph Biden appointed him Commissioner, to the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships. His other honors include: the 2021 Distinguished Alumni Leadership Awardee by Cultural Vistas, an Eisenhower Fellowship to China; designation as a “40 under 40” by business and civic organizations in Washington State and Tennessee; University of Notre Dame Law School alumni of the year awardee; selections as a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow for Young American Leaders and a Broad Foundation Resident in Urban Education. As an active board advisor, he serves on Concordia’s Board of Directors and the Advisory Boards of Skillstorm, EV Passport, Tulsa Innovation Labs and WEVO Group.
Mr. Carter earned a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School, a M.Sc. in Public Policy and Management Studies from Carnegie Mellon University and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Washington.