Cornelius’s work sits at the intersection of culture, strategy, and operations. He helps organizations get clear on where they are headed, set priorities that match, and build the habits and routines that turn plans into action. Across his work, Cornelius is focused on creating environments where people can do hard, meaningful work anchored in inclusion and equity. 

Cornelius brings deep experience in the social impact space. He has led and supported work with organizations such as the National Building Museum and National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, and previously served as a Partner at Promise54, where he advised clients on equity-centered people systems including hiring, performance, development, and culture. Earlier in his career, Cornelius built foundational systems and structures as a founding school leader with the Noble Network of Schools in Chicago and later oversaw national programming for emerging leaders at Education Pioneers.

More recently, Cornelius has supported organizations across sectors through strategic planning, leadership alignment, and group facilitation. His work includes guiding annual retreats, facilitating cross team planning and decision making, and leading strategy sprints that help teams move from ideas to action. Examples include facilitating Creative Commons’ annual retreat, leading a strategic planning sprint with the newly formed leadership team at Worldly, and supporting Braven through design thinking exercises to reimagine elements of its programmatic work.

Cornelius holds degrees from Western Kentucky University, Dominican University, and Harvard Graduate School of Education, and he is an adjunct professor at Dominican University’s Graduate School of Education.