Black Gay Table Talk®
The founding platform. A grassroots space to share honest stories that grew into an international movement — with full productions and streaming on the horizon.
Founder & host →
Advocate · Cultural Leader · Storyteller
Chicagoland
Making room
for the people
the screen left out.
It started with one question from my son: “Why aren't there families like ours on TV?” I've spent my life building the answer.
Kenan Cooper-Gilmore
01 The Work
Representation that was missing, reclaimed.
I build platforms of visibility, hope, and belonging for the Black and Brown LGBTQIA community.
I started at 19, on the board of the then-Memphis LGBT Center. Today I serve as Vice Chair of the City of Aurora's LGBTQ+ Advisory Board, shaping local policy, inclusion, and community support in my home city.
Between those two seats sits two decades of the same work in different forms: media, mentorship, authorship, and now workplace-culture strategy. The through-line never changes — put people who were left out at the center of the story.
My son asked why families like ours were absent from the shows we watched. That question became a career.
02 Platforms & Movements
Six ways the mission shows up.
Each one is a room built on purpose — for stories, for artists, for justice, for families.
Tapping Into Talent™
Contracts, studio time, songwriting, and mentorship for independent Black and Brown artists. Supported creatives including Just Logan, Tutt Jones, and JZidor.
Founder →Municipal Leadership
Vice Chair of the City of Aurora's LGBTQ+ Advisory Board — turning lived experience into local policy, inclusion efforts, and community support.
Vice Chair →Author
Two published books that sit with love, pain, and the search for connection — His Love, My Pain and Is This Him?
Read more →Real Estate & Impact
A Realtor with Crye-Leike who helped represent Southern Serenity Homes — builder of the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Dream Home Giveaway.
Crye-Leike Realtors →Justice for Pride
Co-founded with Adam L. McMath — an LGBTQ+ crime, law, and justice brand built for visibility and intersectional equity.
Co-founder →Success isn't the accolade. It's the moment someone finds one more reason to smile because of the work.
— Kenan Cooper-Gilmore
03 For Organizations
Twenty years turning culture into capability.
I spent two decades in management and training across telecom, pharma, utilities, and healthcare — and learned one thing: a business’s bottom line and its people’s potential are the same problem. Here’s how I help teams solve it.
On stage
01
Mid–large enterprise
Workplace Culture Transformation
Culture audits, inclusive-leadership workshops, and a bespoke roadmap built on the Retention Engine framework — for teams fighting low morale and turnover.
02
HR & L&D teams
Talent Development & Empowerment
Programs in emotional intelligence, communication, conflict resolution, and creative problem-solving — plus mentorship and reverse-mentoring matrices that build real pipelines.
03
Digital transformation
Zero-Anxiety Tech Adoption
AI literacy for non-technical staff, ethical-AI guidelines, and a human-centered path to adopting new tools — so technology frees people up instead of stressing them out.
04
Equity-committed orgs
DEIB Consulting
Strategy, unconscious-bias training, and safe spaces for dialogue — drawn from real advocacy work, so belonging is built into the structure, not bolted on.
05
C-suite & conferences
Leadership Coaching & Thought Leadership
One-on-one executive coaching, keynotes, and bespoke leadership programs on authentic, vulnerable, retention-focused leadership.
06
Marketing & comms
Strategic Storytelling & Brand Narrative
Storytelling workshops and internal/external messaging that make an organization's commitment to its people something a workforce can actually feel.
04 On the Page
Two books about love, pain, and the search for “him.”
Published
His Love, My Pain
An honest reckoning with the cost of loving — and what it takes to hold on to yourself inside it.
Published
Is This Him?
A search for connection that keeps asking the same tender question, and finds the answer isn't always where you expect.
Home
05 Legacy & Family
Everything points back to the table at home.
Being a husband and father shapes how I lead. The whole point of the work is a world where Black gay men and their families can build something safe, affirming, and their own.
There's been gatekeeping. There's been resistance. I keep going — breaking down barriers so the next generation reaches representation and resources with a little less struggle than I did.
06 Get in touch
Let's build
Let's build
something.
Speaking, partnerships, culture work, media, or a hello — this reaches me directly.