Shreveport, Louisiana native Kelvin Cochran, as a five-year-old boy, was spellbound by Shreveport Firefighters fighting a fire across the street from his house and dreamed that one day he would be a firefighter.
A proud student of Caddo Parish Public Schools, Kelvin graduated from Woodlawn High School (1978); Wiley College (1999) with a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Management; Louisiana Tech University (2004) with a Master’s Degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology; a Doctorate in Interdisciplinary Leadership from Creighton University, and Honorary Doctorate in Christian Leadership from Ohio Christian University.
Kelvin’s employment with the Shreveport Fire Department began in 1981 as a firefighter. He was then promoted to Fire Training Officer and served in this capacity from 1985 – 1990, when he gained promotion to Assistant Chief Training Officer. His service in this position concluded when he was appointed Fire Chief of the Shreveport Fire Department on August 26, 1999. On January 2, 2008 he was appointed fire chief of the City of Atlanta Fire Rescue Department. On August 17, 2009 he was appointed as the United States Fire Administrator by President Barack Obama; June 19, 2010 he was re-appointed by Mayor Kasim Reed as Fire Chief of the City of Atlanta Fire Rescue Department. He most recently served as Chief Operating Officer of Elizabeth Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and has very recently accepted the position of Senior Fellow & Vice President with Alliance Defending Freedom.
Kelvin Cochran is married to Carolyn and the father of three children and has one granddaughter.
About Alliance Defending Freedom:
Alliance Defending Freedom is the world’s largest legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, marriage and family, parental rights, and the sanctity of life. We defend your most cherished liberties in Congress, state legislatures, and courtrooms across the country—all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
We don’t just stand for freedom—we win. ADF has won 13 victories at the Supreme Court since 2011, and we’re winning nearly 80 percent of all our cases—but we don’t do it alone.
When 35 Christian leaders came together to build a ministry that would defend religious liberty and keep the doors open for the Gospel, they knew it would take an alliance.
Like the Body of Christ, the alliance is one body made up of many parts. Attorneys play different roles than church and ministry leaders. Non-profit volunteers play different roles than legislators. And business professionals play a different role than grassroots advocates. Each person must play his or her particular role, under one shared vision, to ensure that religious freedom thrives.