DIFFERENCE MAKER
OUR VALLEY SANTA CLARITA
Dr . Robert Cooper
Educator & Pastor
Dr . Robert Cooper , III was born in Duarte , CA in the 1960 ’ s to a spiritual mother and an army veteran father . He was the second of four children that included an older sister and younger twin brothers .
“ I had a great foundation early in life ,” he said . “ I lived in a spiritual town with lots of civic activities and a sense of village . Early in life I was influenced by the speeches of hope offered by Dr . Martin Luther King , Jr . It was those speeches , along with the spiritual goodness and encouragement of my mother , which gave me the drive to strive to get accepted and succeed at Pomona College .”
He continued , “ While at Pomona College , I had the distinct experience and pleasure of giving a campus tour to the future President of the United States of America , Barack Obama . When I graduated Pomona I went on to graduate school at Brandeis University in Boston . Besides my studies , I worked in the Student Affairs department and was very active in student activities . When I graduated Brandeis I went on to seek a PhD at UCLA , which I got in 1996 .”
Along the way to getting his amazing education , he met and married the love of his life , Paulette White Cooper . They , and their baby daughter Nia- Renee , moved to Santa Clarita in 2001 shortly after Robert took a job as a professor at the Graduate School of Education at UCLA . He was a founding faculty Director of the UCLA Principal Leadership Institute where he is passionately engaged in teaching the next generation of leaders for our country .
His brothers are both ministers and with their encouragement Robert and Paulette started the Berean Baptist Family Fellowship Church in 2002 at Helmers Elementary School where it remains today . The mission of Berean Baptist Family Fellowship is to win souls to Christ through teaching , witnessing , serving , nurturing , and stewardship for the advancement of God ’ s Kingdom . The church welcomes people of all races who want to share the faith .
“ After many years of thoughtful prayer and seeking the will of the Lord in my life , I surrendered to the call to the ministry in 2002 . God placed a desire and passion in my heart to be in partnership with him in his work in the Santa Clarita Valley through the ministry at Berean Baptist Family Fellowship ,” said Robert .
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