About the Guest Speaker

Tracey Cooper-Harris served in the U.S. Army in arguably the best job in the military as an Animal Care Sergeant from 1991-2003. Her job focused on providing supportive care to military working dogs (MWDs) that detected narcotics and explosives on and off military installations. These dogs also aided their human handlers in apprehension of suspects. After completion of her military service in 1999, she attended Clemson University & was part of the Women’s Rugby Team who made it to Nationals in 2000 & 2001.

Unfortunately, Tracey was unable to complete her studies at Clemson after her mother’s death and military obligations after 9/11. She deployed to the Middle East in 2002, where she was the sole veterinary support for approximately 15 Working Dogs from the US and coalition countries in Kyrgyzstan over the course of 8 months before her unit pushed into Iraq in 2003. Once she returned home, Tracey worked in the public sector with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and City of Los Angeles Animal Services. Despite some struggles to readjust to civilian life, she used her GI Bill and restarted her education journey at Cal State Northridge (CSUN) & Pasadena City College (PCC). She was active with PCC’s Veterans Club & worked with fellow student veterans at CSUN before the creation of the University’s Student Veterans Association.

As time went on, Tracey gradually became more active in the Los Angeles veterans’ and LGBTQ+ communities. She is currently volunteering with veteran service organizations including the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), The Mission Continues, Team Red, White and Blue (RWB), Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) and Wounded Warriors Project (WWP) assisting fellow veterans, their families, and hands on engagement in community projects. Her passion for both communities and recognition of inequitable benefits for same sex spouses of disabled veterans led to filing a federal lawsuit with the US District Court in Los Angeles in 2012. With the help of Southern Poverty Law Center, Cooper-Harris vs USA was one of the first cases that established recognition of same sex spouses for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits.

In addition to the lawsuit, Tracey worked with IAVA veteran leaders across the nation to get the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act (Clay Hunt SAV Act ) passed and witnessed it signed into law by President Obama in 2015. She has been featured in projects to bridge the military-civilian divide includingWar Ink (2014) , the documentary Surviving Home (2017), campaigns for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and projects breaking stereotypes of what a veteran looks like. Tracey continues to advocate for Veterans and has been a panelist for suicide awareness/ prevention, Veterans & LGBTQ+ issues, & has been honored to keynote for numerous events to include CSUN’s Veterans Graduation Dinner (June 2023) & PVA’s Women Veterans Empowerment Retreat (October 2023).

A first generation college student, Tracey became a California State University Northridge alumna (Kinesiology, 2010) & still is active with CSUN Veteran Alumni Association as well as PCC Veterans. In 2020, Tracey earned her degree from Clemson University (Masters of Public Administration, 2020) & was able to participate in Summer 2022 Commencement. She has been married to her wife, Maggie, since 2008. Tracey attributes her tenacity to her parents (Christopher & Deborah A. Bright), military service, and playing rugby. Tracey is currently the Military/Veterans Liaison for U.S. Representative Grace Napolitano (D-31) in El Monte, CA & is love by their 3 cats: Clemson, JT, & Ali.