(February 22, 2021) Elycia Cook, a non-profit executive and highly respected community leader in Colorado, has been named Chief Executive Officer at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado. She will assume her responsibilities as CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado on March 23, 2021.
Cook takes this leadership role amidst an ongoing pandemic, continued national social unrest, and at a critical moment for Colorado’s youth when mentoring has never been more important. Up to the challenge, Cook brings more than 15 years of positive youth development and non-profit leadership to this role and has extensive experience as a committed volunteer, community advocate, and board member. She believes her success has been shaped by the positive role models in her life and has dedicated most of her career to mentoring causes. Cook brings unique and progressive experience in youth programs, fundraising, marketing, and community work focusing on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. In taking this new role, Cook becomes the first Black CEO in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado’s 100+ year history.
Since 2011, Cook successfully led a prominent Denver peer-to-peer mentoring organization, FRIENDS FIRST, as CEO. The FRIENDS FIRST mission is to educate and mentor teens to make positive life choices and develop healthy relationships. Prior to FRIENDS FIRST, Cook was a Program Director for Hope Worldwide, managing a tutoring and mentoring program for under-resourced students in a predominantly Latinx community within the Denver Public School district. She also spent more than 10 years overseas immersed in Japanese culture as an instructor teaching English as a second language. She is highly skilled in developing innovative marketing strategies from her role as the Asia Pacific Sales Manager for Denver based Information Management Research.
An award-winning non-profit leader, Cook has been recognized for her many accomplishments. In 2009, she founded the Cherry Creek STARS Mentoring Program. She led and mentored teens by escorting several groups participating in Mentoring Day on the Hill in Washington, DC. In 2014, Cook received the Woman Making History award from Colorado Black Women for Political Action. In 2015, she received the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Community Leader of the Year award. In 2016 she received the Aspire Award for her work with teens by Trilogy Financial and was named the prestigious Professional Fundraiser of the Year from the Association of Fundraising Professionals. In 2017, Cook received the African American Making A Difference award from the Urban Spectrum news publication. In 2019, she was recognized as a Girl Scouts Woman of Distinction and in 2020, was a Denver Business Journal Outstanding Woman in Business and was awarded National MENTOR’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Mentoring.
When selected to fill the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado CEO role, she stated, “Most people recognize the name Big Brothers Big Sisters. The world needs Big Brothers and Big Sisters to comfort, guide, and empower our youth. I look forward to strengthening our commitment to the community through deeper engagement and by building strong allies as we address the diverse needs of our most under-resourced communities. It is my hope that together in partnership with families, volunteers, philanthropists, and other nonprofits, Big Brothers Big Sisters takes the world by storm, one community at a time.”
Cook is a native of Detroit, MI, and faced extreme adversity in her life, and knows first-hand the life-changing impact mentorship can have. She has a B.S. from Wayne State University. Because of the support of a mentor, she received a full-ride scholarship to the Japan Center for Michigan Universities studying language, Japanese culture, art history, religion, and business. Cook lives in Aurora, CO with her daughters Aliyah and Milani Cook who have forged their own path in pursuit of equity and social justice.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado engaged Kittleman & Associates to conduct a search for its new CEO. Kittleman & Associates is a national executive search firm that specializes in the recruitment of CEOs for tax-exempt nonprofit organizations, public charities, and philanthropic organizations. For more information, visit www.kittlemansearch.com.
About Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado
Since 1918, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado has operated under the belief that all youth can achieve their full potential with the right guidance and support. The mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado helps children achieve higher aspirations, greater confidence, better relationships, avoid risky behaviors, educational success, and lifelong well-being. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado seeks to change the lives of children facing adversity in meaningful partnership with youth mentees, parents/guardians, volunteers, local communities, and caring philanthropists. For more information visit www.biglittlecolorado.org.