Upstate Forever Staff

Andrea Cooper is a community activist concentrating in the areas of land protection, health, and the environment as we adapt to a changing climate. Her non-profit experience includes involvement in creating a statewide local food hub network in SC, working with the homeless in Boulder, CO, and in lead-prevention and abatement in San Francisco, CA.

Andrea served with the United States Agency for International Development in Sierra Leone, West Africa, assisting the Sierra Leonean government with a statistics project intended to decrease the number of soldiers participating in the civil war. She has served on numerous boards and most recently was board chair of the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League. Andrea also serves on the executive board and is a partner in Ziff Properties, Inc., a privately-owned commercial real estate investment company where she previously was director of acquisitions.

Andrea earned her BA from the University of Colorado, completed Harvard's Non-Profit Governance program and her CPM designation from the Institute of Real Estate Management. She also attended The American University of Paris. She is a fellow in Furman University’s Diversity Leaders Initiative and is also a Fellow of the eighth class of the Liberty Fellowship Program and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. 

Andrea lives in Greenville with her husband and two children. In her spare time, Andrea can be found exploring hiking and mountain biking trails in the Upstate.