Ebonie Johnson Cooper

Ebonie Johnson Cooper leads the development and expansion of nonprofit executive education and training, including as the academic director of the graduate certificate in Nonprofit Management and Leadership. She believes Black giving is magic and leads from a place of intention and passion.

Johnson Cooper has used her voice, research, thought-leadership and expertise to impact and influence nonprofit racial equity, African American donor engagement, church ministry, partnership development and fundraising strategies. She has worked with numerous institutions and nonprofits alike including the Lilly Endowment, United Way of the National Capital Area and Washington Area Women’s Foundation.

A bi-vocational leader, Johnson Cooper is a full-time associate clinical professor and the faculty director for nonprofit executive education and training within the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, while also serving on the ministerial team at Kingdom Fellowship AME Church (Calverton, MD). Johnson Cooper has taught at other institutions of higher learning, including Georgetown University School, Trinity University and Johns Hopkins’ Social Innovation Lab. She leads the Young, Black & Giving Back Institute (YBGB) as its founding executive director and occasionally, she serves as a trusted nonprofit consultant. 

Johnson Cooper was recognized by ESSENCE Magazine (April 2022, November 2016) and JET Magazine (September 2013) as one of the nation’s top leaders for her innovation around NextGen African-American philanthropy. Her leadership and achievements have also been featured on CNN’s HLN network, The Washington Post and ABC7 (NYC). She is a National Museum of African American History & Culture Ambassador, a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and founding member of Benefactors: A Black Giving Collective. Johnson Cooper is an ordained Itinerant Elder in the AME Church and a proud graduate of North Carolina A&T State University (BS), New York University (MS) and Wesley Theological Seminary (MDiv.) Her most important role, above all, is being mother to her precocious and loveable toddler son.