Since founding the company in 2001, Cothran has managed hundreds of national & local fundraising efforts, national & state trade associations and has formed and run nonprofits & political committees around the country. In addition to the company’s leadership in the arena of trade association management and development, CDS is also regarded as one of the top political and non profit fundraising firms in the U.S. Cothran is currently the head of investor relations for the largest national women’s conservative group in the country, Independent Women’s Voice and Forum, and has served as a finance consultant to multiple statewide and federal office holders as well as two U.S. Presidential nominees. 

She was named a 2005 Rising Star in Politics by Campaigns and Elections magazine and was a co-founder of the National Association of Political Fundraisers. She is an active member in the National Association Management Company Institute, The American Society of Association Executives and is a certified administrator of the MBTI®. Locally, she is a past president and board member of the Ada City Schools Foundation, former Harold Hamm Diabetes Center board member, and serves on the Advisory Boards of the Mama T’s Homeless Shelter and TLC Therapeutic Riding Center. Because of her passion for education, in 2015 she was appointed by former OK Governor Mary Fallin to serve on the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness Board.

Cothran was a member of Leadership Oklahoma Class XVII, named an Oklahoma Achiever Under 40 in 2012 and was a 2014 and 2015 Oklahoma “Woman of the Year” finalist. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Communication from the University of Tulsa and a Master’s Degree in Human Relations and Organizational Development from the University of Oklahoma.