Cooper Kroll

Communications and Development Associate

A longtime Seattle resident and competitive rower, Cooper joined the Center for Wooden Boats in 2026 as a communications and development associate. Cooper graduated from Lewis & Clark college in 2024 with a major in Anthropology and minors in Entrepreneurship and Asian studies. He returned to his home town to work as a rowing coach and pursue storytelling. He feels lucky to have been able to center his life around the water and to build community with the many people who find themselves drawn to it. 

The open water has always been a place of clarity for Cooper. As a child, visiting the San Juan Islands, he and his friends would spend hours piecing together driftwood logs with spare nails and odd lengths of rope to build makeshift rafts. Designed to be cast out on grand adventures of 100 meters or so before they invariably sank, these first forays onto the water filled him with a powerful sense of purpose and connection which he would later rediscover through sport, as a rower, training through high school at Pocock Rowing Center on Portage Bay. 

 There are many reasons that people get in a boat. There are a rare few who carry on the traditions of making them for everyone. Cooper is grateful for the opportunity to learn, tell, and share their stories. 

What is your favorite tool?

“A 7/16 Ratcheting Wrench. Saviour of many a Regatta.”