July 2024
Cooke Alums at an Austin Thrive Together Meetup in May 2024.
Compass Feature: Maggie Deforge
2004 Young Scholar, 2009 College Scholar, 2016 Graduate Scholar, MGH Institute of Health Professions
Maggie became a Cooke Young Scholar in 2004, and studied Anthropology at Dartmouth College as a College Scholar. After becoming a Graduate Scholar, Maggie earned her doctorate degree in Occupational Therapy. She now works as an occupational therapist, with a career goal to both increase the number of Native American occupational therapy practitioners and to improve the provision of occupational therapy services to indigenous individuals and communities. In the video below, Maggie discusses how to chart your career path purposefully to best serve your community.
You can connect with Maggie on LinkedIn here.
Compass Feature: Edna Simbi
Watch our latest interview with Alum Edna Simbi, a 2014 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar and 2016 Graduate Scholar from Columbia University. Edna is the Bureau Chief, Information Technology Liaison for the California Department of Social Services. During the interview, Edna shares about her academic and career journey, including her path from her community college Model UN to working at the United Nations in NYC, and her transition from a career at Goldman Sachs to work for the state of California.
You can connect with Edna on LinkedIn here.
Mia Carbajal
2012 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar, University of California at Berkeley
Mia just joined the Here to Stay Community Land Trust in Chicago as the Director of Special Projects. Steadfast in her commitment for housing justice, Mia brings a wealth of experience to this new role and is excited to join the team at this critical juncture in the organization’s development. She will be leading the acquisition, rehabilitation and the resale of homes purchased with the grant and also working with the team on designing different programs that the organization can offer community members interested in joining the community land trust.
Established in 2019, the Here to Stay Community Land Trust retains low-to-moderate income legacy households in Chicago's northwest neighborhoods of Hermosa, Logan Square, Humboldt Park, and Avondale through affordable homeownership and community ownership of the land.
Mia explained, “The idea for a community land trust grew out of a community planning effort spearheaded by one of Here to Stay's founding organizations, which identified affordable homeownership as the best tool to combat the displacement, stabilize the community and help families build wealth. The community land trust model was identified as the best solution to create homeownership opportunities for longtime residents unable to buy into the increasingly unaffordable housing market. Since then, Here to Stay CLT has been making waves in purchasing homes and reselling them to legacy residents, while maintaining community control through the CLT model. In 2023, Here to Stay was awarded a $5 million grant from the state of Illinois to acquire homes and demonstrate the CLT model's potential as a state-wide solution.”
You can connect with Mia on LinkedIn here.
Frank Sabatini
2001 Young Scholar, 2006 College Scholar, 2009 Graduate Scholar, Harvard Law School
Frank just started a new position as Associate General Counsel for the New York Public Library. With a robust background in the legal field, Frank will advise the Library on general legal matters, with a focus on employment law.
Frank shared, “The Library is an amazing, multifaceted institution: a cultural center, a trove of knowledge and ideas, and a place that strengthens community. Given my passion for literature and the arts, I am excited to use my legal training and experience to support the Library as it provides essential services and resources to the public.”
You can connect with Frank on LinkedIn here.
Shaun Zhang
2002 Young Scholar, 2007 College Scholar, 2010 Graduate Scholar, Georgetown University
Shaun recently joined the law firm of Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila as a Partner. Shaun focuses on representing innovators, startups, and large companies on their intellectual property and business-related issues.
Shaun shared, “I won the lottery 20 years ago when I was chosen into the fourth cohort of Young Scholars. Like many of us in the JKC family, that moment put me on the path to where I am and will be going. I am excited to be a Partner at a law firm that not only provides best-in-class service to our clients, but is a champion of pro bono service and a pioneer in diversity and inclusion in the legal profession.”
You can connect with Shaun on LinkedIn here.
The Latest Alumni Blog Features
Cooke Career Snapshots: Key Lessons from Aaron Fulkerson’s Career Journey
Aaron Fulkerson, a 2002 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar, is the CEO of Opaque Systems, which is a confidential AI platform that helps organizations safely accelerate AI into production by unlocking value from sensitive data with verifiable security and privacy. In this blog, he shares about his career journey and the valuable lessons he learned along the way. Read the blog here.
Catchin’ Up With a Regional Chapter Leader: Annie Seo
Our Catchin’ Up with a Regional Chapter Leader blog features Cooke Alum Annie Seo, a 2019 College Scholar currently based in the Bay Area. In this blog, she shares more about her college journey, and how she enjoys staying connected with the Cooke community. You can read more about her here.
Catchin’ Up With a Cookie: Patrick Soltis
Patrick Soltis, a 2009 Young Scholar, 2014 College Scholar, and 2020 Graduate Scholar from UC Berkeley, is an engineer and coalition builder trying to accelerate the transition to a renewable, reliable, and equitable energy system. Currently, he supports a Virginia utility in designing demand-side management programs for the electrified future, starting with immediate solutions for data center service constraints. Read the blog here.
Upcoming Events
Public Speaking 3-Part Series
Are you interested in cultivating your public speaking skills? Stay tuned for our final Public Speaking Workshop held later this summer and led by Cooke Alum Ousmane Kabré.
In case you missed it, check out Compass for a recording of Public Speaking Workshop Part 1, which was held on February 21 and led by Cooke Alum Bérénice Sylverain, and Public Speaking Workshop Part 2, which was held on April 18 and led by Cooke Alum Kevin Bernal-Rivera.
Do you want to share your work in our “Cooke Career Snapshots” blog?
We are looking for folks who would be interested in writing a blog about their current careers for CookeAlumni.org. The purpose of these blogs is to introduce our Scholars and Alums to as many career paths as possible, from the perspective of fellow Cooke Alums who are leaders in the field. Our first blog was written by Scott Pine, a 2013 Undergraduate Transfer Scholar from UCLA, and can be viewed here.
If you’re interested in writing a blog, please send a message to alumni@jkcf.org.
Connect with other Cooke Scholars and Alums in our private LinkedIn Group
Are you a member of the private LinkedIn Group “Cooke Scholars & Alumni”? Join our group to expand your network and discover professional opportunities. Together, we foster a vibrant community where we exchange insights, support each other's endeavors, and unearth exciting professional prospects. Request to join the group here.
We want to hear from you!
Have you recently changed jobs? Did you have your research published this year? Is your family growing? We would love to hear your personal, professional, and academic updates! Feel free to submit your news below or email Alumni Engagement Manager Gabby Nicholas.
A Thrive Together meet up with Dallas Alums in May 2024.