Kristen Cox (born Kristen Eyring,

Bellevue, Washington Bellevue ( ) is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, located across Lake Washington from Seattle. It is the third-largest city in the Seattle metropolitan area and has variously been characterized as a s ...

) is an American business executive, university fellow and instructor, keynote speaker, published author, trainer, consultant, and co-founder of The Fulcrum. Cox is a fellow and instructor at the

David Eccles School of Business The David Eccles School of Business is located on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City, Utah. The school was founded as the "School of Commerce & Finance" in 1917 and subsequently changed its name to "School of Business" in 1927, althou ...

at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

Early life

Cox was born in

. While growing up in

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, Cox gradually lost most of her vision starting about age 11 due to a genetic eye disorder. Cox earned her Bachelor of Science in Educational Psychology from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

She served a mission for the

Church of Latter Day Saints The Church of Christ was the original name of the Latter Day Saint church founded by Joseph Smith. Organized informally in 1829 in New York and then formally on April 6, 1830, it was the first organization to implement the principles found in S ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. She received an honorary Ph.D. from

Snow College Snow College is a public community college in Ephraim, Utah. It offers certificates and associate degrees in a number of areas, along with bachelor's degrees in music and software engineering and a four-year nursing program. Snow College is part ...

in 2019.

Career

Cox worked as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Disabilities. She was appointed to a position with the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

and held numerous positions with the

National Federation of the Blind The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) is an organization of blind people in the United States. It is the oldest and largest organization led by blind people in the United States. Its national headquarters are in Baltimore, Maryland. Overvie ...

. She ran as the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of Maryland during the 2006 general election. Cox served as the executive director of the Department of Workforce Services (DWS). She was appointed executive director of the Utah Governor's Office of Management and Budget (GOMB) by Governor

Gary Herbert Gary Richard Herbert (born May 7, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 17th Governor of Utah from 2009 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the National Governors Association during the 2015–2016 cycle. Herbert w ...

in 2012. She served from 2012 to 2020.

Author

Cox is the coauthor of
Stop Decorating the Fish
' and ''The World of Decorating the Fish'', both with Yishai Ashlag). ''Stop Decorating the Fish'' is a business fable illuminating how leaders may spend significant time and resources on solutions that give only the illusion of progress without solving the root problem. Proceeds from both books benefit th
National Federation of the Blind

Recognition

* Governing Magazine's Public Officials of the Year * Utah Community Foundation as an Enlightened 50 (2016) * Utah Business Magazine as one of the 30 Women to Watch (2012) * Days of 47's Pioneers of Progress Award for Business and Enterprise (2012)

References

;Specific ; {{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Kristen 1969 births American politicians with disabilities Brigham Young University alumni Living people Latter Day Saints from Washington (state) American people with disabilities American blind people Blind politicians American Mormon missionaries in Brazil State cabinet secretaries of Maryland State cabinet secretaries of Utah Women in Maryland politics Women in Utah politics Female Mormon missionaries 20th-century Mormon missionaries 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians Latter Day Saints from Maryland Latter Day Saints from Utah Maryland Republicans Utah Republicans