Lois Cooper
VP Employee Relations and Diversity, Adecco, Melville, N.Y.
Lois Cooper has dedicated herself to the human resources profession. Her current role as vice president of Employee Relations & Diversity at Adecco, a global human resources and staffing companies, puts her in a position to manage all human resources functions for one of the world’s largest employers.
A solid support system of family and friends, who had in common a desire to see her advance, helped her get this high on the corporate ladder, she says. “[They all] believed in me,” she says. She counts in that system her mentor, Orville Dale, vice president of employee relations at advertising giant Young & Rubicam, who introduced her to human resources; her mother, Lula Dupree, a keen listener; and Joseph Cooper, her husband.
Cooper takes her role as a human resources professional to heart, determinedly infusing kindness and a sense of humor in her dealings with those resources. “It’s critical to always treat people with respect and dignity,” she says. And a good sense of humor makes work more enjoyable, she notes.
Prior to joining Adecco, Cooper was the human resources director at MTV Networks and before that she was an assistant vice president and workforce diversity specialist at Chase Bank. But she made an early mark in the profession as a human resources supervisor at the John Alden Life Insurance Co. and as an equal employment opportunity officer, recruiter and human resources assistant at Young & Rubicam, she says.
Eleven years ago, Cooper became a devoted Christian, a decision of which she is proud and which she hails as a “life altering experience.” Today, in making life decisions, she turns to the Bible for counsel, to the book of Jeremiah, Chapter 29, verse 11, which states, “For I know the plans I have for you; a plan to prosper and not harm you; a plan to give you hope and a future.”
Cooper received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Communications and Master’s of Business Administration from Baruch College.
Cooper is known for her love of family. When she wants to feel like a child again, she sets off with her family for Disney World for a “fairy” vacation, she says. When she needs rest and relaxation, the family heads to Jamaica, where they enjoy the island’s heritage and beaches.
Cooper’s ultimate goal is to write a novel.
