Allison Cooper

MPS Class of 2023, Global Development

Grand challenge: Building inclusive, resilient, and climate-smart food systems that catalyze agriculture-led economic growth

Connect: ac2525 [at] cornell.edu (ac2525[at]cornell[dot]edu) | LinkedIn

Allison “Aly” Cooper comes to Cornell with 6+ years of experience in agriculture at the grassroots and program-management levels. Currently, Aly is a Program Specialist supporting the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Bureau for Resilience and Food Security - Center for Agriculture-led Growth. Her work contributes to the technology transfer of innovations developed under the U.S. government’s global hunger and food security initiative, Feed the Future. Before joining USAID, she served as a Sustainable Agriculture Specialist in Peace Corps Senegal where she delivered technical assistance and extended improved variety field crops to smallholder farmers. As an AmeriCorps VISTA, she provided nutrition education and implemented food systems strengthening projects in a rural Appalachian community. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition from Texas Woman’s University and an honorary title as Duchess of Hazard, KY.

At Cornell University, Aly aims to explore the development of equitable and inclusive food systems to increase resilience, decrease poverty, and reduce malnutrition.