Tom Cochran
Tom Cochran is CEO and Executive Director of The United States Conference of Mayors, the official nonpartisan organization representing mayors and cities over 30,000 in population. He has served the organization for almost 40 years since 1969.
Included among his broad range of responsibilities as CEO and Executive Director, Cochran generates new international and domestic initiatives to assist mayors, their citizens, and the organization. For example, CITIES/2000, initiated in 1999, is engaging U.S. mayors with mayors from major cities of the world in joint efforts aimed at democracy-building, increased trade and investment, sharing of best practices, and building new relationships and exchanges; The Mayors Business Council, established in 1998; the Best Practices Center, established in 1998; development of U.S. MAYOR, the official newspaper; 1996; the USCM Internet presence; The U. S. Conference of Mayors’ expanded public employee benefits program; the USCM Urban Water Council, and many others.
Before becoming the Conference’s Executive Director in March 1987, Mr. Cochran was Deputy Executive Director for seventeen years. As Deputy Executive Director, he and overall responsibility for the Conference’s legislative program and, with the Conference’s Executive Director, joint oversight of the organization’s administrative, financial, legal and personnel, technical and educational services.
Prior to joining the Conference of Mayors, Mr. Cochran served in the office of Economic Opportunity, Executive office of the President under the directorship of Sargent Shriver. He was director of Congressional Relations for the Job Corps and in that capacity received several awards for outstanding service.
He earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Georgia.
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