Fellow:Courtney Lorraine Cooper
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Bio
Originally hailing from the south, Courtney is a senior at Menlo College majoring in Business Management with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Using their experiences as a queer former foster youth who is physically disabled, Courtney has spent the last 5 years cultivating their advocacy skills at the local and statewide level. Under their leadership during two terms as the president of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, which represents the over 2 million students in the statewide CC system, the organization got multiple pieces of legislation passed through innovative grassroots organizing despite having a budget of $0. They have also pitched and won first place at Startup Weekend twice.
Courtney has an eclectic set of talents and interests which include alternative disabled sports, volunteering, photography, and writing. They were the first female wheelchair skater before the sport of WCMX was officially formed and have set a long term goal of qualifying for archery at the Paralympics representing the United States of America. They have also taken to traveling solo, pre-COVID-19, and documenting their experience as a disabled femme abroad through photography and essays.
Dynamic and always seeking to better themselves, Courtney’s long term goals are to affect public policy for the disabled community after receiving their J.D. ―particularly for the BIPOC and queer disabled community― as well as run a B Corp later in life. Their personal website is www.courtneylcooper.com.
Achievements
Awards:
First Place
Jan 2020 — Startup Weekend CSU Monterey 2020
First Place
Apr 2018 — Startup Weekend Silicon Valley 2018
Commendation
Apr 2017 — Congresswoman Anna Eshoo
Commendation
Mar 2017 — Congressman Ro Khanna
Women of the Year award for California Senate District 15 - Rising Star
Mar 2017 — Senator Jim Beall
The office of Senator Jim Beall, Senate District 15, awarded me the Rising Star award for my work in advocacy at the local and statewide level in recent years.
Publications:
Op Ed in support of DACA students in the CCC system
Sacramento Bee
Op ed Super Bowl brings danger of human trafficking to Santa Clara The Mercury News
Social media profiles
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtney-lorraine-cooper/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CourtneyLorraineCooper/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mercurialme/
Related links
