Cole: What would you say is the primary motivating factor behind your leadership? Cook: The primary motivating factor behind my leadership in the positive youth development/ mentoring industry is my desire to be the person I needed most when I was a child. I was born into some of life’s most challenging circumstances — my teen mom was police- escorted to the hospital during the worst riots in Detroit’s history. This marked the beginning of my story filled with adversity. As former Denver Mayor Michael Hancock once said, “We may all be born with the same potential, but we are not born with equal opportunity.” Born to a teen mom with an absentee father in Detroit’s inner city, where I witnessed gang violence and struggled in overcrowded schools, privilege was not part of my story. However, mentors were my gift. They ignited my potential at every stage, leading me from a childhood
with stacked odds to becoming the first African American CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado. My primary motivation is an enduring passion to ensure that regardless of a child’s circumstances, there is a trusting caring adult who is not a family member that is always there at every stage of their life, befriending them, encouraging them, advocating for them, and opening doors to unlimited opportunities. Cole: Who are your role models, and what life-changing lessons did you pick up from them? Cook: My greatest role model and hero is my father-in-law, Felix W. Cook Sr., whom we recently lost earlier this year. His life of intentional service continues to inspire me profoundly. From Papa, I learned: ‒Community service is the rent we pay for life on this earth. ‒After thorough preparation trust yourself and
Photo: McBoat Photography
18 The Acumen
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