Gary J. Cooper serves as the Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nafive American Programs at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Along with the Deputy Assistant Secretary Heidi Frechefte, they lead the Office of Nafive American Programs (ONAP). Gary provides oversight and management to the nearly 200 ONAP employees across the Nafion, leading a team of professionals at the Headquarters Office in Washington, DC, in addifion to six regional offices, and two satellite offices. ONAP manages over twenty programs dedicated to Nafive American communifies – including one that is the largest source of housing assistance.
Gary is a cifizen of the Cherokee Nafion and for nearly twenty-two years before joining HUD he worked for the Nafion’s housing program. For more than eight of those years he served as the Execufive Director of the Housing Authority of the Cherokee Nafion. During his tenure he served on the Board of Directors for the Nafional American Indian Housing Council (NAIHC), elected by his peers to serve as the organizafion’s Chairman for two and half years, before stepping down to accept his new posifion.