Carla Madeleine Kupe considers herself a strategist, an educator and trainer, and a collaborative leader. Her unique personal background has translated into unique and innovative problem-solving approaches throughout her career. Carla is the first-born of five children of Congolese parents, speaks eight languages, was born and has lived in Europe, and has been calling the U.S. her home since 1997. Carla has a remarkable ability of putting herself into another's shoes, to see an issue from different vantage points. This refined skill has enabled Carla to consistently render comprehensive advice and lead collaborative projects with people of all walks of life. Carla loves to be the architect of preventive and proactive strategies but also enjoys devising strategic change to improve existing systems and organizational cultures.
Strategizing is Carla’s second nature. Carla is Associate General Counsel as well as Title IX Coordinator for Chicago State University.
Carla is also the creator of Speak Truth Summit, a platform which sets out to give voice and visibility to issues that uniquely and particularly impact women of color. Carla also serves as mentor at the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago. She also serves as adjunct faculty at Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
Before joining CSU, Carla was an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of Chicago Law Department first as a prosecutor in housing court until 2011 and then as a defense litigator for the City of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department. She has held many leadership positions in non-profits such as Director of Community Relations for the Chicago Metropolitan Chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. Carla has a record of advising start-ups such as Chicago-based L’École Française , Executive Choice Security Solutions , and Kikwetu Coffee Company in business development and marketing strategies. She lends her expertise to fellow consulting firms. Most recently she has advised and collaborated with the City of Chicago Mayor’s Office, Chicago Public Schools leadership, the Chicago Police Department and other law enforcement entities, including the Department of Justice's COPS Office. Carla loves to be the architect of preventive and proactive strategies but also enjoys devising strategic change to improve existing systems and organizational cultures.
