Her eye for identifying talent may have been inherited from her mom, who recognized Cotton’s gift with bookkeeping. Her mother extracted a promise that Cotton, a journalism major when she entered Southern College (now Southern Adventist University), would minor in accounting. That accounting minor became her major and after graduation she began working for the General Conference Auditing Service in Atlanta, Ga. Her childhood neighbor, then Oakwood’s interim Vice President for Finance Moges Selassie, was impressed by her work and informed Cotton that the chief accountant position was open. In 1996, Cotton and her husband moved their family to Alabama. She was promoted several times before rising to her current position in 2003. “The biggest strength in leadership that I possess is persistence, believing God has a plan for your life,” Cotton said. “There’s not really anything that can deter you from that plan but yourself. Obstacles are just stairsteps to success.” She accepts no excuses and realizes success also requires divine intervention. No matter the strength of a strategic plan, unforeseen circumstances arise during implementation, she said. “But [the plan] is widely successful,” Cotton said. “It’s nothing but God.” | 
