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OK ETHICS Presents:
Ethics in Extraordinary Circumstances
Cynthia Cooper
WorldCom Whistleblower
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Cynthia Cooper is an internationally recognized ethics speaker, consultant, best-selling author of Extraordinary Circumstances. TIME Magazine named Cynthia one of its 2002 Persons of the Year for her role in unraveling the WorldCom fraud. At the time, the WorldCom fraud was the largest accounting fraud in corporate history, and the company later filed the largest bankruptcy case to that point. Cynthia continued to serve as Chief Audit Executive for over two years, helping the company move forward and successfully emerge from bankruptcy.
Cynthia co-authored the 2023 Organizational Culture and Ethics Report and a 2025 New York Times guest essay. A Certified Fraud Examiner, she formerly chaired the ACFE Board of Regents and served on the PCAOB Standing Advisory Group and NASBA Center for the Public Trust board. She was the first woman inducted into the AICPA Business and Industry Hall of Fame, an inaugural inductee into the IIA Hall of Distinguished Audit Practitioners, and the first woman to receive the American Accounting Association’s Accounting Exemplar Award. She also received the Maria and Sidney E. Rolfe Award for public education about economics, business, and finance.
In 2020, Time included Cynthia among its 100 Women of the Year, recognizing the most influential women in the past century. Working Mother named her one of its 25 Most Influential Working Mothers.
Cynthia donated all profits from Extraordinary Circumstances to support ethics education for high school and university students.
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Event Details:
Date: Wednesday, November 28, 2026
Location: Devon Energy Tower, 50th Floor
Parking: Free, see map below
Schedule:
- 10:45 am: Networking begins adjacent to the Infinity Room
- 11:15 am: Buffet opens
- 11:30 am: Meeting commences
Registration:
- Premium Members: Free (for the number of pre-paid registrants included in membership)
- Members: $60
- Non-Members: $70
CPE Credits:
- Instructional Method: Group Live
- Prerequisites/Participation: None
- Attendance Requirement: 50-minute presentation
- Category: TBD
- Content Reviewer: Executive Director & CPE Coordinator
- Policy: Refunds are not available after the event
- Please email mary@okethics.com for complaint resolutions
Program Description
Cynthia Cooper will share her personal experiences at WorldCom and explore the commom threads, root causes, and lessons learned from some of the most significant corprate failures of the 21st century. Drawing on real-world examples, she will discuss:
- Common threads across 21st Century failures
- Ethical leadership and finding the moral courage to do what is right
- Who commits fraud and why
- Building and sustaining a high-performing ethical culture
- Small changes that can have a significant impact in deterring fraud
- Ten steps to recognize ethical dilemmas and make the right choices
Key Takeways
- Recognize common organizational, cultural, and behavioral factors that can contribute to major corporate failures.
- Explain how pressure, fear, misplaced loyalty, incentives, and rationalization can influence ethical decision-making.
- Recognize the challenges whistleblowers may face before, during and after raising concerns.
- Identify practical actions leaders and employees can take to strengthen a speak-up culture and reduce the risk of fraud.
- Understand what individuals can do to strengthen moral courage and respond to ethical dilemmas.
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