September 2022
Hello Cooke Scholars and Alumni!
We hope you are enjoying the start to the new academic year. It was great to celebrate with many of our new and old community members earlier this month at Scholars Weekend 2022! Here’s an update on what’s going on in the community and the great things some of your fellow Cooke Scholars are doing. Alums, we’d love to feature you and your work, so please reach out and let us know what you’re up to - send us your updates at alumni@jkcf.org.
Volunteer & Leadership Opportunities
Regional Chapter Leader - Let’s Thrive Together!
We are excited to officially announce the relaunch of Thrive Together! After a two-year pause due to the pandemic, we are resuming this initiative to encourage Cooke Scholars and Alums to connect with one another through in-person activities. To learn more about Thrive Together, click here.
If you are interested in leading efforts to help Scholars and Alums in your region Thrive Together, consider becoming a Regional Chapter Leader for the 2022-23 academic year! Chapter Leaders organize Alumni events in their metropolitan regions to build our communities across the world. To be eligible to volunteer for this opportunity, you must be an Alum and willing to serve from September 2022 – May 2023. For more information and to apply, please send an email to alumni@jkcf.org.
Help Discover the Next Cohort of Cooke Scholars
The application for the College Scholarship program has launched and the Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship will open in early October. You can help recruit the next generation of Cooke Scholars by becoming a part of the Cooke Outreach Representative Program (CORP). We believe that no one can speak more authentically than Cooke Scholars and Alumni about the impact of our scholarship programs. Find out more about how you can join CORP and start supporting our outreach efforts today!
Community Buzz
Scholars Weekend 2022
This past Scholars Weekend, the Foundation welcomed over 200 new College and Undergraduate Transfer Scholars to the scholar community in Washington DC. Similar to previos years, Scholars formed new friendships with students across the country, networked with Alums to learn about their career pathways, and made lasting memories throughout the weekend. Below are a few pictures from the weekend - to see more photos from Scholars Weekend 2022, click here.
2022 Scholar and Alumni Award Recipients
At Scholars Weekend 2022, the Foundation presented three awards to Cooke Scholars and Alumni: The Matthew J. Quinn Prize, Undergraduate Scholar Award in Honor of Dennis I. Belcher, and Harold O. Levy Prize. The awards recognize Cooke Scholars and Alumni who have demonstrated outstanding achievement during the prior three years. Such achievements may include the development of an innovative solution to a societal problem, creation of a significant community program, or publication of an important work. In all cases, their outstanding achievement touched the lives of others in meaningful ways and demonstrated impact. To learn more about the recipients, click here.
Conserving our Planet's Wildlife
Five years ago, Cooke Scholar Alum Kabryn Mattison expressed in her Cooke Undergraduate Transfer scholarship essays a deep dream to one day help conserve our planet’s wildlife. Today, she is a wildlife biologist at North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) which takes her all over the state of North Carolina to study rare reptiles. To learn more about Kabryn’s academic and professional journey in the wildlife, click here.
Connect with an Alum
Our Cooke Scholar Alumni network is a vibrant community of more than 2,000 individuals engaged in diverse career and personal pursuits. One way you can Connect with an Alum is to complete this form and let us introduce you to an Alum sharing similar interests and career goals.
Compass Feature: Anna Neuman
2018 College Scholar, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Anna Neuman became a Cooke Scholar in 2014, and as a College Scholar she studied Chemical-Biological Engineering as an undergraduate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.
Alumni Buzz
2004 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar, University of Indianapolis; 2006 Graduate Scholar, University of Minnesota
Dee was recently recognized and celebrated in the Minnesota Women Lawyers’ “50 Years, 50 Voices” sharing the stories of diverse women attorneys from across the profession and throughout the state. Dee is the Executive Director of Loan Repayment Assistance Program of Minnesota, a nonprofit helping legal aid attorneys pay their student loans until they reach Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) - ensuring that skilled and dedicated advocates are supported to serve low-income Minnesotans.
2007 Young Scholar; 2012 College Scholar, Duke University; 2016 Graduate Scholar, Columbia University
After many years of schooling, Michael will be starting his first full-time job with Boston Consulting Group in Atlanta. In addition to being one of Georgia’s newest residents, he is also the newest doctorate in the Cooke Scholar Alumni community after successfully defending his dissertation this past spring and earning his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Columbia University. Join us in congratulating Michael on these huge milestones!
2018 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar, Florida International University; 2020 Graduate Scholar, St. Thomas University College of Law
Casey recently started her last year of law school at St. Thomas University and had the privilege to welcome back fellow classmates and the incoming law school Class of 2025. Casey serves as the Student Bar Association President at STU Law - take a look at the campus and hear her message in the video below.
2006 Young Scholar; 2011 College Scholar, The City College of New York; 2021 Graduate Scholar, Columbia University
Rene recently started a new position as the Assistant Dean of Students at the Dalton School, a private, coeducational college preparatory school in New York City. Prior, he served as the Middle School Information Specialist and Student Life Coordinator at the same school and was the Operational Coordinator at Success Academy Charter Schools in New York.
2007 Graduate Scholar, New York University, Kings College London
Noam loves teaching music as much as he loves creating and performing, and this academic year he will be serving as the Director of Music at Ron Brown College Preparatory High School in DC! Noam is also a Teaching Artist in Double Bass, Composer at the DC Strings Workshop.
Throwback Photo of the Month
Scholars and Alums at Scholars Weekend 2022