Cooper Coleman Recruits New Leader for ReVive Center for Housing and Healing
May 21, 2024 – Chicago-based Cooper Coleman LLC has assisted in the recruitment of Kesha Larkins as the new executive director of ReVive Center for Housing and Healing in Chicago. Ms. Larkins is a seasoned non-profit leader with a track record in fundraising, operational management, and program development. With a commitment to trauma-sensitive care, she has dedicated her career to making meaningful contributions to organizations striving to create safer and more supportive communities.
Most recently, Ms. Larkins served as the associate director at connections for Abused Women and their Children (CAWC) where she played a pivotal role in expanding the reach and impact of the organization’s programs. Her expertise in trauma-informed care was instrumental in designing and implementing domestic violence prevention initiatives across diverse settings, including community-based locations, hospitals, and shelters. Additionally, Ms. Larkins played a key role in overseeing quality improvement initiatives, ensuring operational excellence within the organization. Prior to joining CAWC, she served as associate, health and compliance for Christopher House, a family resource and early childhood program.
Through her strategic leadership, Ms. Larkins cultivated crucial relationships with stakeholders, secured significant grant funding, and executed successful fundraising events, ensuring vital support for program initiatives. Since 2021, she has served as the co-chair of the funding oversight committee for the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, where she has played a vital role in ensuring the effective allocation and management of resources to support essential services for survivors of domestic violence across the state of Illinois.
As executive director of ReVive, Ms. Larkins will be the driving force in creating and implementing the organization’s strategic plan, overseeing all operations, and ensuring the fulfillment of ReVive’s mission.
Since 1915, ReVive Center for Housing and Healing has served people who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and those struggling to maintain housing. ReVive’s mission is to seek an end to homelessness and restore hope so that all might flourish. The organization strives to provide its clients with more than just material goods such as housing, food, and access to medical care; it helps them develop relationships that provide greater purpose and help them meet their goals to live fuller lives.
Related: Cooper Coleman Recruits Chief Technology Officer for Lambda Legal
Founded in 2020, Cooper Coleman is a full-service executive search and consulting firm partnering exclusively with non-profit organizations, foundations, and research and academic institutions to drive meaningful growth. Its team moves organizations forward by placing “the right leaders in the right roles at the right time” and helps to strengthen their management and fundraising capacity to amplify their mission and impact.
Proven Search Consultants
Johnny Cooper, co-founder and CEO of the firm, has more than 16 years of leadership experience throughout the social sector. He partnered with his father-in-law, William B. Coleman, to establish Cooper Coleman as a firm that “prioritizes making the essential services of executive search accessible to organizations across the social sector, knowing the transformational impact having the right leaders in the right roles can have on an organization and its mission,” the firm said. Mr. Coleman has more than 25 years’ experience in retained executive search, including leading his own firm, Coleman Search Consulting LLC, for more than 10 years until its sale in 2018.
Bill Coleman, co-founder and principal, has worked with publicly and privately held corporations in the recruitment of C-level operating, finance, human resources, sales/marketing, supply chain, and technology executives. Prior to Cooper Coleman, Mr. Coleman founded and led Coleman Search Consulting LLC, for more than 10 years before selling the firm.
Recently Called In
Cooper Coleman is currently at the final stages of its search for a new president and CEO for the Kalamazoo Nature Center in Michigan. The CEO is responsible for all financial, operational, administrative, and legal/compliance aspects of organizational management, including but not limited to public relations, financial management, fundraising, organizational development, and staffing. This executive leader liaises with and coordinates the contributions of diverse groups of trustees, donors, staff, volunteers, and community groups. The CEO works under authority granted by the board of trustees and will have the full support of this active and engaged board, according to Cooper Coleman.
The Kalamazoo Nature Center’s ideal CEO will be a decisive, charismatic, mission-driven executive leader, a proven fundraiser, and a seasoned people manager. They are inspiring, authentic, and diplomatic; financially and operationally savvy; experienced in managing and overseeing complex programs, including those funded by grants. Candidates will possess a well-developed executive presence and an ability to externally represent the Kalamazoo Nature Center confidently, skillfully, and strategically, elevating the organization’s profile throughout its various communities of current and prospective funders, clients, and partner organizations.
Related: Cooper Coleman Recruits CEO for the Montrose Center
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor; Lily Fauver, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
