A veteran of 30-years with the Los Angeles City Fire Department, Kwame Cooper was promoted to Battalion Chief in 2004, then promoted again to Assistant Chief in 2011. In his current capacity, Chief Cooper oversees operations for half of LA, primarily in the San Fernando Valley, protecting a population of 3.2 million residents in a 322 square mile area with 500 firefighters working in 50 fire stations. Rooted in a lifelong philosophy that all people deserve access to better and safer lives, Chief Cooper has been a tireless advocate for fire safety and healthy relationships between all sectors of society, having received countless awards for his work in designing fire safety curriculum and instructing firefighters in all aspects of leadership. In 2010 Chief Cooper was singularly honored by having been invited to become a member of the Board of Directors of the National Fire Protection Association. Chief Cooper has designed countless LAFD school outreach programs, helped the LAFD hire firefighters from diverse communities, worked as a certified facilitator for the LA Attorney's Office coordinating the “Days of Dialogue” program to foster communications and collaboration between various racial and ethnic groups, etc. Nationally he's served as Fire Safety Education Director for the International Assn of Black Professional Firefighters, consulted with the NFPA Center for High Risk Outreach, worked as an instructor at the National Fire Academy and the Carl Holmes Executive Development Institute at Clark Atlanta University where he teaches management courses to future Fire Captains and Chief Officers from around the country, has promoted racial dialogue for the National Conference of Community and Justice (formerly the National Conference of Christians and Jews), etc. Chief Cooper has volunteered thousands of hours to community-based organizations, is continuously sharpening his skills and knowledge in human relations and diversity issues, has earned national acclaim for his efforts in developing “Promising Practices” by President Clinton's Race Initiative, one result of which was his being asked to host member's of President Clinton's advisory panel on race relations. In 1999 he was named Firefighter of the Year by the Knights of Columbus, and all-in-all is regarded as one of America's most prominent and highly respected professionals in the fire service. His work has taken him into diverse communities from Watts to the Caribbean, Central America, Argentina, Portugal, Ethiopia and South Africa, and as such, Chief Cooper brings a wealth of unique urban, national and international experience to the 911 FUND.
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