Ms. Kook is a Change Liaison with the In-Depth Technical Assistance (IDTA) Program Team currently engaged in, Michigan, Oklahoma, and the Chickasaw nation. She also consults on collaborative community practice to grantees of the Quality Improvement Center-Reunification at the University of Maryland. Ms. Kook has over 30 years of experience in child welfare program planning, development, implementation, strategic grant making, and providing technical assistance (TA). Prior to joining CCFF, Ms. Kook served as the Vice President, Family Resiliency Strategies, at the Empire Health Foundation (EHF) where she oversaw grant making and community partnerships. The aim was to prevent adverse childhood events and mitigate the effect of trauma on young people so that they may reach their full potential. While at EHF she also served as the Executive Director of the Family Impact Network, the first Network Administrator for performance-based contracting in child welfare in Washington state. Prior to EHF, Ms. Kook was the Director of Child Welfare at the Stuart Foundation where she oversaw all aspects of child welfare grant making and program development in California and Washington state. She also served in various frontline, supervisory, and management positions in public child welfare for 17 years in Stanislaus County, California. Ms. Kook holds an MA in Social Work from San Jose State University and a BA in Sociology from California State University, Stanislaus.
