Bree E. Cook, Psy.D., vice president of academic affairs at Pacific Oaks College, has joined the board of trustees at Hillsides, a service organization that has been caring for at-risk youth for over a century. “They have been around for a long time, and they have done a lot of good work in areas that are important to me, including mental health and reducing violent crime,” Dr. Cook says.
Dr. Cook previously served on two committees for Hillsides, where she became more familiar with the organization’s work. “They have been active throughout the LA area but especially in Pasadena,” she said. “And they have focused a lot of their work on communities of color.”
Dr. Cook’s background in family services in the nonprofit and academic realms aligns with the mission of Hillsides. The organization was founded in 1913 by Evelyn Wile in her own home. She later moved the children under her care into two cottages on 17 acres in the San Rafael hills of Pasadena where Hillsides Residential Treatment Services remains today.
Since its founding, Hillsides has added an on-campus school, Hillsides Education Center, and Family Resource Centers, on the understanding that helping children means helping their families as well. In 2004, it launched Hillsides Youth Moving On to assist in the transition of young adults leaving the foster care system.
Before joining the faculty of Pacific Oaks College as an adjunct instructor 10 years ago, Dr. Cook worked with other children and family services organizations. “I truly fell in love with teaching and higher education as a profession,” Dr. Cook says, though she observed that Black women are underrepresented in academia.
This recognition, along with her desire for positions of leadership, has driven to her where she is today, with a goal of one day becoming a college president.
In the meantime, Dr. Cook is enthusiastic about contributing to Hillsides’ mission, which has improved the lives of more than 110,000 individuals thus far. “I am looking forward to extending the work I’ve been doing throughout my academic career into my non-academic life,” she says.
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