Veronica Coptis
Veronica Coptis joined the CCJ staff in March 2013 as a Community Organizer and is now serving as the Executive Director. She grew up in western Greene County near the Bailey Mine Complex and currently lives in the eastern part of the county. Before joining the CCJ staff, Veronica served on the Board of Directors for CCJ and organized with Mountain Watershed Association. She received a bachelor’s degree in biology from West Virginia University. She enjoys hiking and geocaching at Ryerson State Park and other areas around Greene County with her husband and daughters. Read more about Veronica in a New Yorker Magazine profile at https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/03/the-future-of-coal-country.
Contact Veronica at veronica@centerforcoalfieldjustice.org.
Blog Posts by Veronica Coptis
People represented by PA House Representative Puskaric (District 39) and Representative Jason Ortitay (District 46) should be aware of two upcoming public town halls recently scheduled for next week. If you are unsure what district you reside in, click here. In addition, increasing the minimum wage is currently being debated in the state legislature and […]
It is clear that our economy and communities are changing in Greene County. At the Center for Coalfield Justice, we acknowledge that the only way these changes will include everyone is if we are all working together. As a result, CCJ has launched a canvass in Waynesburg and Carmichaels, where we are going door to […]
The Center for Coalfield Justice will continue to follow and support the community around concerns of environmental impacts on increased cancer occurrences in children following the report released by the Pennsylvania Department of Health stating that there is no apparent cancer cluster in Canon-McMillan nor Washington County. We know from our allies across the coalfields […]
Earth Day is the most celebrated secular holiday in the world. We all live, work, play, love and depend on this planet. Today is a day to celebrate our planet and perhaps find a way to replenish it and clean it up. Let Earth Day activities inspire you to make permanent changes in your life. […]
An Afternoon in the Coalfields Over the course of the afternoon, we navigated through Greene and Washington counties, following well traffic all over rural southwestern Pennsylvania. Looking out the window were signs that directed the different energy corporations down the winding, crumbling, nearly single lane country roads to their respective well pads. If you weren’t […]
There are two kinds of people on Valentine’s Day: the romantics, covered in red and pink and hearts, and the cynics, who avoid Hallmark stores like the plague. Rarely do these groups find common ground. Through our work, though, we all live the shared value of love. Love is strength. Love is resilience. Love is […]