Lance Cooper is a multimedia journalist, the founder of Water The Planet, a non-profit organization focused on ending the global water crisis, a Shorty Awards Finalist for Best Small Business In Social Media, an activist, influencer, organizer, and philanthropist with over sixteen years' experience in marketing. His work has been featured in Forbes, People, Vogue, Essence, New York Post, NewsOne, Crime Online, Daily Kos, Raw Story, CSPAN, MLive, BET, VIBE, REVOLT, XXL, The Hollywood Reporter, FWRD AXIS, and many other well-known news sources.
Lance writes about social media, race, mental health, music, and politics, with a highly anticipated book detailing his internet journey due for release in 2022. Lance Cooper is also a Senior Editor at Street Monstaz Magazine, and Social Marketing Manager for Javon Davis Eyewear.
In the summer of 2014, residents of Flint, Michigan began falling seriously ill. As pregnancy rates dropped and disease rates rose, people couldn’t help but wonder if their ailments had anything to do with their discolored, off-tasting drinking water.
A few months prior, the city had changed Flint’s drinking water source from the Detroit River to the nearby Flint River, a polluted body of water that’s notorious for its high levels of lead. This cost-cutting decision saved the city millions of dollars, but cost residents their health and, in some cases, their lives.
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When Lance heard about the Flint water crisis, he was devastated. But as an activist and community leader in his own city, he knew he could rally the good people of Richmond to help out their neighbors in Flint.
In 2018, Lance launched the #SaveFlintChallenge, a movement that inspired people from all over the planet to help supply Flint residents with clean water, and raise awareness of our global water crisis. Through his fundraising, Lance has raised over $250,000, which has helped thousands of Flint residents recover from one of the nation’s deadliest public health crises of the decade.
On November 14th, 2019, GoFundMe honored Lance for his work at its first ever GoFundMe Heroes Celebration in San Francisco. There, he and five other community-nominated Heroes took the stage to spread their inspiring messages and stress the importance of helping others in need. His life's work is dedicated to provoking meaningful change for marginalized communities and reminding the world that when people come together, incredible things can happen.
