5250 Fieldston Rd, The Bronx, NY 10471, United States
Cook was one of the few African American children to attend the Riverdale Country Day School in the Bronx.
College/University
Gallery of Suzan Cook
New York, NY 10027, United States
Cook has received her Master of Arts degree in education from Columbia University.
Gallery of Suzan Cook
3041 Broadway, New York, NY 10027, United States
Cook has received her Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary.
Gallery of Suzan Cook
120 Boylston St, Boston, MA 02116, United States
Cook studied acting and singing at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree.
Gallery of Suzan Cook
4501 Denlinger Rd, Dayton, OH 45426, United States
Cook has received her Doctorate of Ministry degree from Ohio's United Theological Seminary.
Gallery of Suzan Cook
Cambridge, MA, United States
Cook is also a graduate of Harvard University's President's Administrative Fellows Program.
Career
Gallery of Suzan Cook
2007
44 John St, New York, NY 10038, United States
President Bill Clinton attends Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook's 25 Year Anniversary In Ministry - April 12, 2007, at Old John Street United Methodist Church in New York City, New York, United States.
Gallery of Suzan Cook
2011
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton swears in Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook as Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, May 16, 2011.
Gallery of Suzan Cook
2014
1356 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, United States
Ebrahim Rasool and Suzan Johnson Cook attend Shared Interest's 20th Anniversary Awards Gala at Gotham Hall on February 27, 2014, in New York City.
Gallery of Suzan Cook
Photo of Suzan Johnson Cook
Gallery of Suzan Cook
Photo of Suzan Johnson Cook
Gallery of Suzan Cook
Photo of Suzan Johnson Cook
Gallery of Suzan Cook
Photo of Suzan Johnson Cook
Gallery of Suzan Cook
Photo of Suzan Johnson Cook
Gallery of Suzan Cook
Photo of Suzan Johnson Cook
Gallery of Suzan Cook
Suzan Johnson Cook and Joe Biden
Gallery of Suzan Cook
From the left are Charlotte Lombard-Roberts, Greg Robinson, Dolores Bolton, Pastor Mary S. Minor, Rev. Dr. Suzan Johnson-Cook, Archbishop Perry Moore of the Anglican Orthodox Church, and Trènais Roberts.
President Bill Clinton attends Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook's 25 Year Anniversary In Ministry - April 12, 2007, at Old John Street United Methodist Church in New York City, New York, United States.
From the left are Charlotte Lombard-Roberts, Greg Robinson, Dolores Bolton, Pastor Mary S. Minor, Rev. Dr. Suzan Johnson-Cook, Archbishop Perry Moore of the Anglican Orthodox Church, and Trènais Roberts.
Preaching in Two Voices: Sermons on the Women in Jesus' Life
(Eight women whose roles in Jesus' life are not often high...)
Eight women whose roles in Jesus' life are not often highlighted are the subjects of 16 thought-provoking sermons told from two perspectives - male and female.
Sister to Sister: Devotions for and from African American Women
(This powerful, best-selling book of meditations is a sour...)
This powerful, best-selling book of meditations is a source of strength, renewal, healing, and celebration as readers share the contributors' stories of parenting, marriage, the death of a family member, and relationships in general. Suzan D. Johnson Cook captures the soul of sisters who need to tell their story.
Too Blessed to Be Stressed: Words of Wisdom for Women on the Move
(In Too Blessed to Be Stressed Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook shar...)
In Too Blessed to Be Stressed Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook shares her testament of faith and is living proof that stress doesn't have to stress you out. Dr. Cook uses her platform as the first female American Baptist pastor, a wife, a mother, as well as an appointee to President Clinton's Initiative on Race and Reconciliation to point out that many changes in life will happen - both good and bad. There is one constant that we can count on in this change-the unchanging and constant nature of God. Dr. Cook provides stories and hymns to show that God has blessings prepared for each and every woman in their season of life.
Sister Strength A Collection Of Devotionals For And From African-american Women
(Sister Strength is an outpouring of affirmation, praise, ...)
Sister Strength is an outpouring of affirmation, praise, love, and celebration by and for African-American women of all backgrounds and experiences. Devotionals by dozens of women share their faith in God and the conviction that they should make a difference as role models and activists in their churches, homes, and communities. These women speak as mothers, sisters, teachers, and friends, passing on the lessons they've learned and the wisdom they've received. Sister Strength will be a source of strength to all women who want to make a difference in their world.
(Getting ready for the mate God has for you. It's about be...)
Getting ready for the mate God has for you. It's about becoming Ms. Right, not finding Mr. Right! Most single Christian women long to meet and marry a good man. But your quest for a mate starts with yourself. By cultivating a godly character, you can make your single life joy and your dating a journey of spiritual growth.
(A woman's life is a precarious balance of love, worship, ...)
A woman's life is a precarious balance of love, worship, family, friendships, career, hobbies, and "alone" time. There doesn't seem to be enough hours in a day, and yet the list of things to do never stops expanding. Balancing Your Life meets the challenge of not only finding a balance but also keeping it. Rev. Cook's unique approach to sharing her faith and knowledge draws thousands of women to the god's Leading Ladies conferences. She motivates them with simple rules of life - put God first, and let Him guide you.
Live Like You're Blessed: Simple Steps for Making Balance, Love, Energy, Spirit, Success, Encouragement, a nd Devotion Part of Your Life
(One of today’s leading ministers, Suzan Johnson Cook epit...)
One of today’s leading ministers, Suzan Johnson Cook epitomizes the positive attitudes and self-help spirit that make a profound difference in the way we live. Live Like You’re Blessed illuminates her winning formula in an engaging combination of autobiographical anecdotes and lessons drawn from her pastoral work.
Moving Up: Dr. Sujay's Ten Steps to Turning Your Life Around and Getting to the Top!
(The minister the New York Times described as "Billy Graha...)
The minister the New York Times described as "Billy Graham and Oprah rolled into one" shares her winning formula for facing life’s transitions with confidence and faith. A dynamic religious leader, Suzan Johnson Cook epitomizes the positive attitude and self-help spirit that can take you from where you are to where you want to be. Whether you are facing a career change or moving to a new city, dealing with aging parents, or settling into an "empty nest" after your children have grown, she teaches you how to move on without messing up.
Becoming a Woman of Destiny: Turning Life's Trials into Triumphs!
(A book from a celebrated public speaker and spiritual lea...)
A book from a celebrated public speaker and spiritual leader - available for the first time in trade paperback format. With timeless biblical principles as a foundation, as well as transformative modern-day examples, Dr. Sujay illustrates that every woman is destined for a remarkable life. In Becoming a Woman of Destiny, she explains how women can release themselves from their prisons of fear, failure, and a painful past, and move forward confidently into their own greatness. Also included in this life-changing book are guidelines for creating Destiny Circles - powerful groups of women who come together for support, inspiration, and encouragement. Becoming a Woman of Destiny is a groundbreaking book that will help any woman wanting to live her fullest present and future.
Soul Sisters: Devotions for and from African American, Latina, and Asian Women
(An inspiring devotional for women everywhere - from a cel...)
An inspiring devotional for women everywhere - from a celebrated public speaker, spiritual leader, and former Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Dr. Suzan "Sujay" Johnson Cook. The challenges women face in modern society - raising a family, finding and keeping a steady job in a tough economic climate, and powering through everyday struggles - can feel insurmountable without a solid support system.
The Sister's Guide to Survive and Thrive in Ministry
(Previously published as The Sister's Rules for Ministry, ...)
Previously published as The Sister's Rules for Ministry, this newly revised and expanded book offers 10 practical guidelines for women called to ministry. From the pragmatic to the devotional, these rules provide female pastors and women called to other ministries with practical wisdom for succeeding in a male-dominated vocation, with grace, integrity, and style. Compact, conversational, and compelling, this little volume is indispensable for any woman who wants to serve God faithfully and with flair!
Suzan Johnson Cook is an American theologian, pastor, motivational speaker, and author. She served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. She was the principal advisor to the President of the United States and Secretary of State, for religious freedom, globally, having all 199 countries in her portfolio, and integrating religious freedom into the foreign policy and national security discussions.
Background
Suzan Johnson Cook was born on January 28, 1957, in Harlem, New York, United States. Her mother, Dorothy Johnson was a schoolteacher, and her father, Wilbert Johnson, a trolley car driver. They founded a security guard business that moved the family from a Harlem, New York, tenement to a home in the Gunn Hill section of the Bronx, New York.
Education
Suzan Cook was one of the few African American children to attend the Riverdale Country Day School in the Bronx, and her parents helped to organize an African American Parent Teachers Association. She studied acting and singing at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree. Cook has also received her Master of Arts degree in education from Columbia University, her Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary, and her Doctorate of Ministry degree from Ohio's United Theological Seminary. She is also a graduate of Harvard University's President's Administrative Fellows Program.
From 1983 to 1996, Johnson Cook was the senior pastor at New York's Marine Temple Baptist Church and a professor at New York Theological Seminary from 1988 to 1996. In 1990 she became the first female and African American to be named New York City Policy Department's (NYPD's) chaplain, a position she held for twenty-one years.
In 1993 Johnson Cook earned a White House fellowship, where she advised President Bill Clinton on a range of domestic issues. She then consulted for the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development on faith-based initiatives from 1994 to 1997. President Clinton later appointed Johnson Cook to serve on his National Initiative on Race as his only faith advisor. In 1996 near the end of her service to the Clinton administration, Johnson Cook founded the Bronx Christian Fellowships Baptist Church, serving as its senior pastor and CEO until 2010. In 2002 she also become the first woman to serve as president of the influential Hampton University Ministers' Conference which represents all the major historically black religious denominations.
Over her career, Johnson Cook traveled abroad to engage various religious groups. She has led interfaith delegations to Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and throughout the Caribbean. She also worked with the nongovernmental organization World Vision in its efforts to combat global poverty and traveled to Zimbabwe and South Africa to meet with Zulu faith leaders to promote interfaith dialogue and tolerance. Earlier in her life, she had also traveled across Africa with her friend, Yolanda King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr.
In 2010 President Barack Obama appointed Johnson Cook to be the United States ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom, a position created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. After being confirmed by the United States Senate, she was sworn in on May 16, 2011, making her the first woman and first African American to hold this position. Her main responsibility was advancing the president's agenda on the promotion of the right to freedom of religion as a universal human right across the globe.
Johnson Cook left her post in October 2013, returning to private life as a minister and motivational speaker. In 2015 she announced her intention to run for the United States Congress, hoping to fill the soon-to-be-vacant seat of long-time member and civil rights advocate, Congressman Charlie Rangel, who had announced his retirement.
Prior to joining the Department of State, Johnson Cook authored ten books, three of them bestsellers: Too Blessed to be Stressed: Words of Wisdom for Women on the Move; Sister to Sister: Volume One: Devotions for and from African American Women and Becoming a Woman of Destiny: Turning Life's Trials into Triumphs.
She has given more than 2,500 speeches and been featured on most major TV and radio shows, including The Today Show, Good Morning America, FOX Midday, and The Dave Dinkins Show. She also hosts an internet show, Conversations with Ambassador Sujay.
(In Too Blessed to Be Stressed Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook shar...)
1997
Religion
Cook became the first African American woman to be elected to a senior pastorate in the American Baptist Churches in its 200-year history. At the time Cook inherited the congregation, the church building was dilapidated and membership had dwindled to only 15 people. Within six months, membership in the congregation had reached 250 members. By 1994, membership at Mariners' Temple had blossomed to 1,000 parishioners in what had become one of Manhattan's fastest-growing churches. Cook not only conducted services on Sunday but also held lunch-hour services each Wednesday for the City Hall-Chinatown business community. These services became known as the "lunch hour of power."
One of Cook's principal objectives was to give members of her congregation a sense of hope. She believed that education and literacy were the keys to success that would allow her parishioners to control and change their lives. Towards this end, Cook sought to provide her congregation with what Gardner termed a "survival support system," to which they could turn for everything from tutoring to an after-school snack.
She established a home for the mentally disabled and reached out to Manhattan's politically powerful Chinese community. She also directed Black Women in the Ministry, a program sponsored by the New York City Mission Society that was designed to encourage other African American women to pursue the ministry.
Politics
Cook was appointed to a one-year term on President Clinton's National Advisory Board on Race in 1997. As envisioned by Clinton, the panel would propose policy solutions to heal racial tensions as a necessary step in preparing the country adequately for the twenty-first century.
Cook ultimately agreed to serve on the President's race board because she fervently believed that race relations were the most critical issue facing America. While she readily admitted that she did not think the panel would be capable of erasing centuries of fear and distrust, she did believe that its formation would be.
As the board concluded its work, Cook pushed for a permanent race council. Such a body, she stressed to Ann Scales of the Boston Globe, "would bring sustaining power to race matters and make it harder for future presidents to disband the panel without being accused of abandoning the goal of racial harmony."
Suzan supported Joe Biden's campaign for President of the United States in the 2020 United States presidential election.
Views
Johnson Cook's passions are education, desiring to shape a generation of 21st-century scholars and to enhance the role that women play as leaders, both domestically and internationally. Her Pro-Voice/Pro Voz Movement is in direct response to seeing first-hand the lack of access, and the lack of women at corporate, political, and diplomatic tables worldwide. Domestically, her movement helps Black, Latina, and Asian women become both a political and economic force, through connections, celebrations and conversations, and mentoring them into key leadership positions.
Quotations:
"I am a confident, courageous, and capable woman. I have committed my life to a mission of seeking justice for people. I am seeking to bring out the best in people so they will soar to their highest. I am a pastor, urban practitioner, civil rights activist, wife, mother, daughter, author, and public speaker. I am one who believes I've been blessed by God in order to be a blessing to others. I seek to use my gift in places that will honor and affirm God and other people. I am constantly growing, achieving, and evaluating my life."
Personality
Cook is a strong, committed woman who is devoted to issues of race, religion, and community. Motivation and empowerment are the common themes that cohesively bind her efforts together. She is perceived as a leader both within the lay and religious communities.
Interests
Politicians
Bill Clinton, Barak Obama
Connections
Susan is married to Ronald Cook, the program coordinator of the Convent Avenue Baptist Church. The couple has two sons, Samuel David, and Christopher Daniel.