Viola Cooper

Viola has over 20 years of experience implementing and managing community engagement programs for EPA. Specifically, she is an expert at developing and implementing community engagement activities for the Superfund program. While working at EPA Region 9, she managed the cleanup of U.S. Department of Defense Base Realignment and Closure sites. Stakeholders included federal partners, state and local governments, Restoration Advisory Boards, and communities affected by the sites. Viola has extensive experience working with communities affected by military munitions and groundwater and soil contamination at these sites. She has extensive experience providing risk-related communications and conflict resolution services as part of successful community engagement efforts.

Viola was in detail at EPA Headquarters for 11 years. She was the National Program Manager for EPA’s Superfund Job Training Initiative (SuperJTI) for EPA Regions 6 through 10. Viola oversaw SuperJTI’s environmental remediation training and assistance with job placement for program trainees and graduates. She also managed multiple SuperJTI projects in several EPA Regions across the country, including all outreach and program implementation with the Navajo Nation.