Keith Kirkpatrick's Bio (Serious)

Keith Kirkpatrick has earned recognition as a leading authority on leadership and entrepreneurship. Keith is a trusted coach and insightful advisor to many businesses, organizations, and community leaders. Hundreds of students, leaders, and executives have credited him with enhancing their skills and helping them move toward their potential. Keith describes himself as a practitioner and teacher having used and shared his creativity, strategies, actions, and writing to make a positive difference.

His engaging style of conversation and humor made him a highly effective interviewer on his weekly PBS show. During his time with Lakeshore Focus, he produced 300 shows featuring provocative issues and fascinating people. Keith’s greatest gift may be using his influence and networking skills to bring together amazing teams of people who create significant impact.

Keith operates his projects and enterprises through his role as President of the KPM Group. He is the founder of the South Shore Leadership Center, passionately serving fifteen years as its President/CEO and Master Facilitator for Leadership Northwest Indiana where 1,200 community leaders graduated. At the SSLC he created a model program for community engagement of youth from 32 high schools in seven counties. He founded the Institute for Innovative Leadership at Indiana University Northwest and the Northwest Indiana Entrepreneurship Academy serving both organizations as Executive Director.

Mr. Kirkpatrick is a true entrepreneur, starting his first business at the age of 24. He has been actively involved in the start-up and ownership of ten businesses in manufacturing, distribution, printing, specialty gifts, construction, importing, and human services. He has been the founder of ten non-profits and worked to transform and grow another fourteen organizations. Keith says at an early age he was an entrepreneur, well before he heard the word or knew how to spell it.

Keith has created learning opportunities and enthusiastically conducted hundreds of seminars on leadership, marketing, team building, customer service, supervision, strategic thinking, and motivation. He has inspired and challenged students while teaching undergraduate and graduate-level business and MBA classes regionally and at several universities in Eastern Europe. He is a former faculty fellow at the Indiana University Tobias Leadership Center. Keith is a highly effective executive coach, career development advisor, and facilitator. His consulting work focuses on leadership development, succession planning, business strategy, organizational development, and the feasibility, growth, and acquisition of businesses and new products.

Keith received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from Illinois State University and continued his life-long learning commitment with graduate classes and seminars at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, University of Illinois-Chicago, Northern Illinois University, and Ball State University. He was recognized by the U.S. SBA as a Small Business Advocate, a Champion of Diversity by Indiana Minority Business Magazine, and for his outstanding work in the development of community leadership by the Indiana Leadership Association.

Keith is committed to community engagement, valuing collaboration, connectivity, and constructive transformation. In the past, his dedicated leadership roles included Chair/President for the Indiana Leadership Association, NWI World Trade Alliance, Regional Youth Employment Council, and Junior Achievement. Keith was on the founding board and inducted into the NWI Society of Innovators. He served on the first board for the Porter County Community Foundation and has been on numerous boards, committees, and advisories primarily focusing on community, economic, and workforce development. Keith is a devoted Christian leader who is President of Valpo United Methodist Men and serves on the Church Council.