About

Reverend Dr. Odell Montgomery Cooper

Founding Member, The Interruption Project

Rev. Dr. Odell M. Cooper is a dynamic educator, author, and fierce advocate for addressing generational trauma. With a Ph.D. in Interreligious Studies, specializing in Transformative Leadership, she is the visionary CEO and Founder of Interruptions: Disrupting the Silence, LLC. This groundbreaking organization is dedicated to engaging diverse communities in transformative conversations that dismantle the stigmas surrounding mental health in society, culture, and faith.

As a founding member of the Interruptions Project, she creates space for conversations that challenge mental health stigma. Drawing from personal experience, she speaks against gun violence and generational trauma and authored Interruptions: Disrupting the Silence and Letters to My Son. She is also the creator of the Let’s Talk workbook and Passed Down: Stories that Shaped Us discussion cards.

A motivational speaker who has served as an adjunct professor at Hartford International University and Grace Theological Seminary, Rev. Dr. O serves on boards including NAMI and CONECT. She holds degrees from Howard University, Hartford International University, and Grace Theological Seminary, and is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. A recipient of the Community Healing Network’s “Community Healer Award,” she has presented at NCTSN and discussed her book at the Vatican Library. She enjoys traveling, chess, gardening, and cycling.

Our Commitment to the Community:

Collage of diverse women participating in community events, holding books and smiling, with the central text 'Interruptions in the Community'.

  • To create and lead intergenerational, community-based dialogue groups that promote emotional literacy, truth-telling, and care practices rooted in cultural and spiritual traditions.

  • To design and offer trauma-informed workshops and curricula for clergy, faith leaders, and congregants that incorporate spiritual and cultural frameworks.

  • To promote and participate in public healing events that incorporate storytelling, embodiment, music, and ancestral wisdom as tools for emotional restoration.

  • To consult and coach churches and spiritual organizations to become trauma-responsive and mental health-affirming.

Together, these efforts create pathways for healing, connection, and resilience—honoring the wisdom of our communities while making mental health care more accessible, compassionate, and responsive.

We are committed to creating spaces and programs where people feel heard, supported, and empowered to heal together.

Two women are shaking hands at a meeting or gathering, with one woman wearing a floral dress and the other in a striped outfit, surrounded by other people and green tablecloths.

Our Mission:

We create sacred, trauma-informed spaces where communities can explore and reframe mental health through spiritual care, education, and culturally grounded practices.

Executive Officers

Chairperson: Angel Perry-Smith

President: Natasha Noel

Secretary: Marcel Brown

Treasurer: Richard A. Pearce

Rev. Dr. Odell Montgomery Cooper

Members

Cathy Patton

Stephanie Smith

Deborah Stanley-McAulay

Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Streets

Two women sitting on a black leather couch, engaged in conversation, with a doll sitting in the background.
Group of diverse people practicing a synchronized prayer or meditation with hands pressed together, standing shoulder to shoulder in a room.