Julie Cooper (She / Her)

Julie Cooper is a senior public financial management specialist with over 25 years of experience in leading development projects in public financial management (PFM), domestic resource mobilization (DRM), trade facilitation, and private sector growth and fiscal decentralization. She has proven expertise in policy dialogue, stakeholder collaboration, and knowledge solutions to drive inclusive growth and fiscal consolidation. Julie has extensive field experience in formulating and articulating public sector policies and strategies. Ms. Cooper is known for her collaborative and inclusive management style. She is recognized for supporting her team and helping them to achieve their own and project goals. Ms. Cooper strives to ensure all team members feel heard and valued while assuring high-quality products are delivered. Julie places an emphasis on building and leveraging in-house expertise. Her work at the national level of government includes collaboration and support to Prime Ministers, Special Advisors, and Ministers. She also works with all levels of Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), and with small and medium enterprises (SMEs). She has served in top leadership positions on complex multi-dimensional projects providing managerial and technical guidance. Ms. Cooper is skilled at stakeholder management, creating strong bonds with stakeholders including donors, host country counterparts, and political leaders. Ms. Cooper excels at change management and has a proven ability to obtain buy-in for the implementation of complex and politically sensitive reforms involving multiple agencies and institutions. Ms. Cooper is an internationally recognized expert on leading complex reform projects with demonstrated success and results in working with host-country counterparts across Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa to drive reforms. She has served as a key technical leader on projects including positions as Chief of Party and Chief of Party-equivalent roles, for USAID, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). She has won professional awards including an IMF 2011 Honor Initiative Award for Project Management of the joint World Bank/IMF program “Supporting Economic Management in the Caribbean (SEMCAR); and in 1995 the Total Quality Management Award, Australian Federal Government. She has published multiple technical PFM blogs and has been a key presenter at the International Consortium of Government Financial Management (ICGFM) conferences. Ms. Cooper applies adaptive strategic management techniques to create practical solutions to meet development needs and brings years of field experience in obtaining results through institutional strengthening and sustainable public sector capacity development. She builds trusted client relationships with USAID and other donors to garner the necessary support and coordination to implement reforms in fluid, complex, and politically sensitive environments. In Timor-Leste Ms. Cooper was the Team Leader of the Australian Embassy’s Flag Ship Program PROSIVU, Partnership for Inclusive Prosperity responsible for the strategic direction and successful implementation of the three end-of-facility outcomes: i) stronger, more inclusive economic growth; ii) sustainable public finances; and iii) better public administration. On the USAID Fiscal Accountability and Sustainable Trade (FAST), Arrears Management Activity in South Sudan, Ms. Cooper provided technical direction to develop an arrears clearance strategy to address the existing stock of domestic expenditure arrears (DEA) and a budget and expenditure management strategy to prevent the continual build-up of DEA. As Chief of Party on the USAID-funded $19M Partnership for Accelerated Results in Trade, National Expenditure and Revenue (PARTNER) in Sri Lanka, Ms. Cooper guided the team through the Covid-19 pandemic, pivoting the project to have immediate impact by assisting the apparel sector to diversify and deliver personal protection equipment (PPE) and to obtain the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certification to access US markets. Ms. Cooper also worked with the Sri Lankan Special Advisor to the Prime Minister to develop economic policy to successfully guide the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) through the pandemic. In Jordan, Ms. Cooper, as Team Leader, provided managerial, technical and policy direction on the USAID-funded $35M Fiscal Reform and Public Financial Management (FRPFM) Activity to establish a Public Private Partnership (PPP) unit, mainstream gender budgeting, finalize the rollout of the Government Financial Management Information System (GFMIS) and develop and deliver training to all Government of Jordan (GOJ) accounting staff to prepare them for the introduction of accrual accounting and developed the fiscal decentralization plan. Ms. Cooper served as PFM Team Lead on the USAID-funded $95M CORE II project in South Sudan. Ms. Cooper successfully led the team to build the country’s institutional capacity at both the national and state level and implemented public financial management (PFM) functions. In Afghanistan, Ms. Cooper, as the Chief of Party on the World Bank-funded $12M Public Administration Capacity Building Project (PACBP) established and managed the Government’s treasury functions. Worked in: Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Caribbean, Cook Islands, Egypt, Jordan, Solomon Islands, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vanuatu, and Zimbabwe