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Draft:Jackson Cooper

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • Comment: Please remove the embedded external links in the body of the article (see WP:EL). If they are intended as references, please add them as inline citations. Paul W (talk) 10:37, 12 June 2026 (UTC)


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Jackson (Reid) Cooper is an American arts administrator, nonprofit executive, author, educator, and cultural advocate. He is known for his work in nonprofit governance, fundraising, arts administration, and cultural leadership.[1] He has held executive leadership positions in nonprofit arts organizations and has served as a commissioner of the Washington State Arts Commission.[2] He is the author of several books and has been featured on The TED Radio Hour[3], The Seattle Times[4], Movies that Made Us Gay[5], How to Build a Nonprofit as well as speaking engagements at The Academy Museum[6], The Rainier Club[7], and Seattle University[8]

Education

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Cooper is a first-generation college graduate from North Carolina, graduating from UNC-Greensboro, creating an interdisciplinary degree in Arts Administration[9]. He was honored by UNCG with the Young Alumni Award in 2024.[10] He also holds an MFA in Arts Leadership from Seattle University.

Career

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Arts and nonprofit leadership

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Jackson Cooper is one of the arts sector's leading educators and thinkers. He currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Arts Administration at Elon University in North Carolina. Between 2024 and 2025, he served as Executive Director of the American Genre Film Archive, where he oversaw organizational operations and strategic initiatives related to film preservation and distribution.[11] As Executive director he managed the acquisition and retention of intellectual property and distribution rights for a library of 2,000+ theatrical film titles[12] and expanded AGFA's fundraising and outreach efforts including creating partnerships with the Academy of Motion Pictures, Birmingham City University (UK), Harvard Film Archives, and the Fantastic Pavillion/Cannes Film Festival. Under his leadership, AGFA released new restorations of lost films including Love Goddesses of Blood Island and Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers starring Holly Woodlawn[13].

He has held leadership positions in arts and nonprofit organizations throughout the United States, working in fundraising and programming roles for the NC Museum of Art, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Arboretum Foundation, Mary's Place and other cultural and community-based nonprofits.[14]

While Executive Director of Chamber Music Raleigh, Cooper led the curation of concerts from esteemed musical groups and artists such as Caroline Shaw, Rhiannon Giddens, the Juilliard Quartet, Sybarite 5, and oversaw the production of a televised American Music concert on PBS/UNCTV featuring Alexander Bernstein and pianist Lara Downes[15].

He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Arts Administration at Elon University.

Public service

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Cooper was appointed to the Washington State Arts Commission, where he represented Washington's 43rd Legislative District. During his service, he participated in state-level arts advocacy and cultural policy initiatives as their advocacy chair[2]. He was a co-lead on the Seattle Arts Voter Guide and was appointed to the City of Seattle's LGBTQ Commission in 2021.

Film and theatre

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A trained musical theatre conductor and director, Cooper served as Music Director of the Durham Savoyards from 2017-2019, conducting productions of Trial By Jury, Ruddigore, and The Mikado. His "invigorating" conducting has been noted to be "as satisfyingly savvy as Vittorio Gui’s much-loved Rossini interpretations.[16] He has directed productions at the Justice Theatre Project, Pauper Players, William Peace University, and Theatre in the Park.[17]

He has appeared on film podcasts including Movies that Made Us Gay, The Projection Booth, Scene and heard, Cult Cinema Circle. He programmed films for Alamo Drafthouse' Film Club series from 2018-2019.[18]

Orchestra conducting

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In addition to his appointment with the Savoyards, Cooper has served as a frequent guest conductor for the Durham Symphony Orchestra. He previously served as a Student Conductor for the NC Symphony's Youth Sinfonietta.[19]

Publications

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Cooper is the author and co-author of books on kindness, nonprofit leadership, and governance, including:

His scholarly and professional writing has addressed fundraising, nonprofit leadership, arts administration, musical theatre, and classical music including authoring an obituary for Stephen Sondheim[21].

Honors and recognition

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Bibliography

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Books

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  • A Kid's Book About Kindness (2025)[20]
  • Nonprofit Boards For Dummies (2026)[25]
  • Sustainable Fundraising (2026)

References

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  1. ^ Insights, Stories &. "Meet Jackson Cooper - CanvasRebel Magazine". canvasrebel.com. Archived from the original on 2024-07-06. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  2. ^ a b "Board of Commissioners". ArtsWA. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  3. ^ N; P; R (2025-11-07). "The price of creativity". NPR. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  4. ^ "Seattle nonprofit gets record $5M donation". The Seattle Times. 2025-10-29. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  5. ^ "Spotify – Web Player". Spotify. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  6. ^ "15 Years of the American Genre Film Archive: Glen or Glenda". Academy Museum of Motion Pictures - Timeline. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  7. ^ "Jackson Cooper Presents… Arts WA - The Rainier Club". www.therainierclub.com. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  8. ^ "Entertainment Evolved: A Conference on the Business of Entertainment". Seattle University. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  9. ^ UNCG Alumni (2024-10-21). Jackson Cooper '16 Alumni Award Video. Retrieved 2026-06-02 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ "Alumni Awards". UNCG Alumni. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  11. ^ Hemphill, Jim (2024-06-14). "Now Celebrating 15 Years, the American Genre Film Archive Keeps the Fringe Alive". IndieWire. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  12. ^ Hemphill, Jim (2024-06-14). "Now Celebrating 15 Years, the American Genre Film Archive Keeps the Fringe Alive". IndieWire. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  13. ^ "American Genre Film Archive SCARECROW IN A GARDEN OF CUCUMBERS". www.americangenrefilm.com. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  14. ^ "Jackson Cooper". Valtas Group. 2025-10-14. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  15. ^ PBS NC Arts | Lara Downes: Sounds Like America. Retrieved 2026-06-15 – via www.pbs.org.
  16. ^ "PERFORMANCE REVIEW: A. S. Sullivan & W. S. Gilbert — THE MIKADO (M. Rowe, B. DelVecchio, G. Toft, J. Burnette, S. Albert, F. Hilliard, L. Hussey, M. E. Hirsh, A. Sealey; The Durham Savoyards Ltd., 29 March 2019)". Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  17. ^ "Jackson Cooper | Find Podcasters & Guests - MatchMaker.fm". www.matchmaker.fm. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  18. ^ Klahre, Ayn-Monique (2024-02-15). "5 Questions with… Jackson Cooper". WALTER Magazine. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  19. ^ "Meet Our Guest Artist Jackson Cooper – Durham Symphony Orchestra / William Henry Curry, Music Director and Conductor". 2015-11-18. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  20. ^ a b "A Kids Book About Kindness by Jackson Cooper: 9798217126125 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  21. ^ "Stephen Sondheim: A Private Public Figure - The Gay & Lesbian Review". glreview.org. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  22. ^ Washington, Fabulous (2025-10-01). "Fab Teachers: Washington State 2025". Fabulous Washington. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
  23. ^ "40 Under 40 2025: Jackson Cooper". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  24. ^ "MusicalAmerica - MA Top 30 Professional: Jackson Cooper". www.musicalamerica.com. Retrieved 2026-06-02.
  25. ^ "Nonprofit Boards For Dummies | Wiley". Wiley.com. Retrieved 2026-06-15.
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