Following her interests in storytelling and production, Mercedes Yolanda Cooper entered Columbia College Chicago’s M.F.A. in Film and Video program intending to direct films. Working at the college while completing her degree helped her discover a passion for storytelling in a different form: marketing. She is currently using her experience in production, design, and communications to pursue a career in entertainment marketing. Cooper holds a B.A. in Economics from University of Maryland College Park and also studied abroad at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. She was born in Seattle on a rainy day in June and was named after a character in her dad’s favorite childhood book, The Count of Monte Cristo.

At the conclusion of the 2011 Project:Involve program, Cooper was named the 2011 Barbara Boyle Scholar.