With roots in numerous cities including Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta and Jackson, MS, Dara Cooper is a national organizer with the National Black Food and Justice Alliance (NBFJA), an alliance of Black led organizations working towards national Black food sovereignty and land justice. She is also an anchor team member of the HEAL (Health Environment Agriculture and Labor) Food Alliance, a cross sector alliance of organizations working to deeply transform our unjust food system. She recently completed a project elevating racial justice and food systems infrastructure work (such as food hubs and co-ops), after completing a southern tour interviewing Black farmers, co-ops and food hubs throughout the south in partnership with the Center for Social Inclusion (now Race Forward).
Dara serves on the leadership team for the Movement for Black Lives policy table, working to link the struggle against mass police and state violence with environmental, health and nutritional violence against Black people. In August of 2016, the Movement for Black Lives’ policy table introduced a Vision for Black Lives policy document providing a comprehensive set of policy demands from over 50 contributing organizations.