Dr. John Kim Cook
 

Director for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

Department of Homeland Security


In August 2007, Dr. John Kim Cook was named Director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (CFBCI). In March 2006, the DHS CFBCI was established by Executive Order 13397 to coordinate the Department’s efforts in eliminating regulatory, contracting and other programmatic obstacles to the participation of faith-based and community organizations in the Department’s social and community service programs.

Previously, Dr. Cook served as Senior Policy Advisor to Daniel W. Sutherland, DHS Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. Dr. Cook assisted with management, procurement, human resources and policy issues in the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and served as a point-of-contact with the Office of the Secretary at DHS Headquarters. He also managed Civil Liberties University, which provides classroom and computer-based training for law enforcement officers, guards and other personnel throughout the Department. This training ensured that civil rights and civil liberties are protected while the important work of securing the homeland is accomplished.

Prior to moving to DHS, Dr. Cook was Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor. First appointed to the Bush Administration in February 2001, he also served as a Senior Intergovernmental Officer in the Department of Labor’s Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs and as a Special Assistant in the U.S. Department of Health of Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families.

Back in his home state of Texas in 2000, then-Governor George W. Bush appointed Dr. Cook to be Austin Director of the Texas Office of State-Federal Relations, where he was a liaison between the state and federal government. Previously, he also worked on the Human Services Committee staff of the Texas House of Representatives and as Legislative Director for Texas State Representative Wayne Christian. For more than a decade, Dr. Cook served in several public and private colleges and universities, both as a lecturer and in financial aid, admissions, recruitment, residence life, and career guidance. He holds a Ph.D. in higher education administration and public policy from Texas A&M University, a Master of Science in education administration and a Bachelor of Arts in communications from Baylor University.

Dr. Cook lives in Vienna, Virginia, with his wife, Jane Hampton Cook, a published author and speaker who previously served in the Bush White House and Texas Governor’s Office, along with their two young sons.