Bill Kopsky

Bill Kopsky is executive director of Arkansas Public Policy Panel.  The Panel is a 61 year old 501.c.3 non-profit that helps Arkansas families and residents improve their communities and develop policy solutions by taking collective action and building coalitions.  The Panel is the organizer of the Arkansas Citizens First Congress, a coalition of 68 community organizations founded in 1998 as a 501.c.4 sister organization to lead progressive policy change in Arkansas. The two organizations' agendas, elected by their members, includes economic, education, environmental, and civil rights issues, as well as promoting civic engagement.  In 2024 the Panel is helping lead the campaign for the Arkansas Educational Rights Amendment as a part of the For AR Kids coalition.

The measure guarantees universal access to 4 of the most powerful education reforms - prek, afterschool and summer programs, quality special education and support services for children in poverty -- as well as establishing minimum quality standards in the state constitution and requiring all schools that receive public financing to meet the same standards. Bill completed biology and creative writing degree requirements with a minor in philosophy at the University of Colorado where he was a student organizer.  He is a graduate of the Southern Empowerment Project Community Organizing School and joined the Panel in 1996 where he was mentored by Brownie W. Ledbetter and other civil rights, community, environmental, labor, and feminist leaders.  He became the Panel’s Executive Director in 1999.  He is married to Liz Smith, Ceramic Arts Professor at the University of Central Arkansas, and they have 2 children.