Margot Copeland
Corporate executive Margot James Copeland was born on December 4, 1951 in Richmond, Virginia. She was the only child to her parents, Reverend William Lloyd Garrison James, a Baptist minister, and Thelma Taylor James, an eighth grade math teacher. Copeland earned her B.S. degree in physics from Hampton University, and her M.A. degree in educational research and statistics from The Ohio State University.
Copeland began her corporate career at Xerox Corporation, Polaroid, and Picker International. In 1992, she was hired as executive director for Leadership Cleveland, a program of the Greater Cleveland Growth Association that develops community leaders. After seven years at Leadership Cleveland, Copeland became president and CEO of the Greater Cleveland Roundtable, a nonprofit organization founded to improve multicultural and multiracial relations in the Cleveland area. She joined KeyCorp in 2001, and served as executive vice president - director, corporate diversity and philanthropy and as an executive council member. KeyCorp is one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies and, within her position as chair and CEO of the KeyBank Foundation, she managed the company’s annual $20 million philanthropic investment program and oversaw diversity initiatives. KeyCorp has been included in DiversityInc magazine’s list of 50 Top Companies for Diversity in 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009 and ranked 13th among the most generous cash giving companies in America in a 2003 list published by BusinessWeek. In 2013, the KeyBank Foundation was recognized as a Civic 50 Company by the National Conference on Citizenship, Points of Light and Bloomberg LP.
Copeland has participated in a number of community organizations and boards. In 2010, she became the fifteenth president of The Links, Inc. She has also served as the president of the Junior League of Cleveland, Inc., sat on the Kent State University board of trustees, acted as Mentor/Protégé Program Advisor for Morehouse College, and is a member of the Business School Advisory board at Hampton University.
Copeland was listed as one of the “100 Most Powerful Women in Cleveland” by New Cleveland Woman magazine, and in 2012, Savoy magazine included her in a list of the “100 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America.” She is also the recipient of the YWCA Career Woman of Achievement Award; was the 2006 Black Professional of the Year as recognized by Black Professionals Association Charitable Foundation; received the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. Community Service Award; and the W.O. Walker Excellence in Community Service Award, sponsored by the Call and Post newspaper. Copeland also received the distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award in 2013 from Hampton University.
Copeland lives in Cleveland, Ohio and has three children, Reverend Kimberley, Dr. Garrison, and Michael Copeland.
Copeland was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on February 10, 2014.
A2014.045
Female
2/10/2014
Copeland
Divorced
Marietta
Hampton University
The Ohio State University
Matoaca High School
Giles B. Cook Elementary School
Westview Early Childhood Education Center
Margot
Richmond
COP01
Summer
Virginia
Beaches
Cry Out Of One Eye.$

Ohio
12/4/1951
Cleveland
United States
Blue Crab
Corporate executive Margot Copeland (1951 - ) served as the executive vice president of diversity and chair of the foundation at KeyCorp from 2001. She was also national president of The Links, Incorporated.
Xerox Corporation
Polaroid Corporation
Picker International
Leadership Cleveland
Greater Cleveland Roundtable
KeyCorp
KeyBank Foundation
Ohio State Legislature
Ameritrust Bank
Blue
Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Margot Copeland's interview
Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Margot Copeland lists her favorites
Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Margot Copeland describes her mother's family background
Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Margot Copeland talks about her mother's education
Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Margot Copeland talks about the role of Petersburg, Virginia in the Civil War
Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Margot Copeland describes her mother's upbringing in Petersburg, Virginia
Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Margot Copeland describes her mother's involvement with The Links
Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Margot Copeland describes her father's family background
Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Margot Copeland talks about her paternal grandfather
Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Margot Copeland describes her father's upbringing
Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Margot Copeland talks about her father's career as a minister
Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Margot Copeland describes how her parents met
Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Margot Copeland describes her parents' personalities and who she takes after
Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Margot Copeland describes her earliest childhood memory
Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Margot Copeland remembers her community in Petersburg, Virginia, pt. 1
Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Margot Copeland remembers her community in Petersburg, Virginia, pt. 2
Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Margot Copeland recalls her early experiences of religion
Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Margot Copeland remembers the racial tensions at Matoaca High School, pt. 1
Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Margot Copeland remembers the racial tensions at Matoaca High School, pt. 2
Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Margot Copeland recalls her elementary school education
Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Margot Copeland talks about her early interest in science
Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Margot Copeland remembers attending a pre-college program at the Hampton Institute, pt. 1
Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Margot Copeland remembers attending a pre-college program at the Hampton Institute, pt. 2
Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Margot Copeland remembers her time at the Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia
Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Margot Copeland remembers her astrophysics courses at the Hampton Institute in Hampton, Virginia
Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Margot Copeland talks about the environment at historically black colleges
Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Margot Copeland recalls her admission to The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio
Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Margot Copeland describes her graduate programs at The Ohio State University
Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Margot Copeland recalls her graduate math courses
Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Margot Copeland remembers working for state legislator William L. Mallory, Sr.
Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Margot Copeland remembers joining the Xerox Corporation
Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Margot Copeland talks about her role at the Xerox Corporation
Tape: 4 Story: 9 - Margot Copeland remembers her transition to the Polaroid Corporation
Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Margot Copeland talks about her maternal uncle, Theodore Taylor
Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Margot Copeland remembers the economic boycott of Richmond, Virginia
Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Margot Copeland recalls her father's involvement in the Civil Rights Movement
Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Margot Copeland describes her work at the Polaroid Corporation
Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Margot Copeland remembers leaving the Polaroid Corporation
Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Margot Copeland talks about her early community involvement
Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Margot Copeland talks about the history of The Links
Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Margot Copeland describes The Links' organizational structure
Tape: 5 Story: 9 - Margot Copeland talks about her involvement in The Links, Incorporated, pt. 1
Tape: 5 Story: 10 - Margot Copeland talks about her involvement in The Links, Incorporated, pt. 2
Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Margot Copeland recalls her start in the Junior League
Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Margot Copeland describes her philosophy of organizational leadership
Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Margot Copeland remembers her presidency of the Junior League of Cleveland, Inc.
Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Margot Copeland recalls serving as executive director of Leadership Cleveland
Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Margot Copeland remembers hosting a gang leader as a guest speaker at Leadership Cleveland
Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Margot Copeland remembers taking leaders to women's prisons in Ohio
Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Margot Copeland remembers taking leaders to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Margot Copeland remembers her involvement on the Cleveland Bicentennial Commission
Tape: 6 Story: 9 - Margot Copeland remembers the Cleveland Browns' departure from Cleveland, Ohio
Tape: 6 Story: 10 - Margot Copeland talks about Michael R. White's mayoralty of Cleveland, Ohio
Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Margot Copeland describes her work with the Greater Cleveland Roundtable
Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Margot Copeland talks about her previous positions
Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Margot Copeland describes her work with the KeyBank Foundation
Tape: 7 Story: 4 - Margot Copeland describes the KeyBank Classrooms for STEM Education program
Tape: 7 Story: 5 - Margot Copeland describes the role of civic engagement at KeyCorp
Tape: 7 Story: 6 - Margot Copeland describes her plans for the future
Tape: 7 Story: 7 - Margot Copeland talks about the importance of community service
Tape: 7 Story: 8 - Margot Copeland recalls her mentorship of an aspiring biomedical engineer
Tape: 7 Story: 9 - Margot Copeland reflects upon her legacy
Tape: 8 Story: 1 - Margot Copeland describes how she would like to be remembered
Tape: 8 Story: 2 - Margott Copeland narrates her photographs
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