Kelvin Cochran

Kelvin Cochran, administrator for Elizabeth Baptist Church in Atlanta, was the first African American fire chief for his hometown of Shreveport, La., before serving in several positions with the International Association of Fire Chiefs. In 2008 he was named chief for the Atlanta Fire Department and a year later appointed U.S. Fire Administrator by President Barack Obama, where he worked alongside the Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Cochran was fired as Atlanta fire chief in 2015 due to controversy on a page from his self-published book "Who Told You That You Were Naked?" that presented a biblical perspective on marriage and sexuality. He would later receive a $1.2 million settlement from the city after suing that his firing had violated his religious beliefs.

Email: kelvin.cochran@elizabethbaptist.org