CHIEF CHANGE AGENT & FOUNDER

Philip Cooper is a Western North Carolina Native, an accomplished reentry expert, and criminal justice reform advocate. He is the Founder and Chief Change Agent of Operation Gateway Inc., whose mission is to decrease recidivism by addressing the social determinants of health of returning citizens. He is the founder of Voices of Affrilachia, which is a state funded initiative that is addressing the behavioral health stigma in the Marginalized Communities of Western North Carolina. He is an MLK Service Award Recipient, the Attorney General’s Dogwood Award Recipient, he is the recipient of the 2024 Recovery Role Model Award for the Addiction Professionals of North Carolina, 2024 Innovator of the Year for SAMHSA, Neighborhood Builder for Bank of America, 2025 TIME Magazine CLOSER Honoree, Appalachian Leadership Institute Fellow, and Leading with Conviction Fellow with Just Leadership USA. He is an ambassador for Just Economics of WNC and is the Pastor of Friends of John Recovery Ministry. Philip believes that those closest to the problem are the closest to the solution and this is why he is fully committed to teaching people how to leverage their lived experience to change the world.