Faith Akovi Cooper

Faith Akovi Cooper is a recognized leader in humanitarian assistance, global health, and international development with nearly over two decades of experience across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. She currently serves as Chair of the United States Refugee Advisory Board, where she champions inclusive, community-driven policies for forcibly displaced populations. Faith is also Senior Director of Community Engagement at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) within the Resettlement, Asylum, and Integration (RAI) unit. Previously, she served as IRC RAI Regional Director for the U.S. Southern Border, overseeing operations across nine offices and guiding the delivery of critical humanitarian and resettlement services. 

Faith’s global leadership experience includes serving as the IRC’s Country Director in Liberia, where she oversaw a $36 million USAID health systems strengthening portfolio and secured an additional $17 million during the COVID-19 pandemic for a follow-on community health initiative. She has held senior roles with Africare in Ghana and Liberia and served as Regional Advisor for the West Africa Disaster Preparedness Initiative during the Ebola outbreak, supporting preparedness across 15 ECOWAS countries. She previously led pandemic preparedness efforts in 16 African nations with the Center for Disaster and Humanitarian Assistance Medicine and served as Program Director at the W. Montague Cobb/NMA Health Institute during its formative years.

Faith holds an MPA in Health Policy from George Mason University and dual B.A. degrees from Radford University. Her honors include Radford University’s 2025 Outstanding Alumni Service Award and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity’s 2023 Award of Merit for humanitarian assistance and crisis response.