Staff

Mr. Cook has 29 years of experience in local government. He retired in 2017 after serving as Executive Director for the Ogden City Council for 15 years. In 2003, he became certified as a professional facilitator by the International Association of Facilitators. He has facilitated more than 1,000 meetings, workshops, and retreats. He is the author of five books, including Facilitating Your Own Meetings: Essential Skills for Managers and Supervisors. Mr. Cook is known for his collaborative leadership style and ability to effectively engage citizens. At Ogden City, Utah, he co-led three community engagement initiatives – the College Town Initiative, Diversity Connections, and Branding Ogden. At the national level, Mr. Cook organized and co-facilitated the first ever Community Engagement Summit in 2017. This summit brought together 16 national organizations from higher education and local government to discover where collaboration is possible between the organizations. Internationally, Mr. Cook recently advised the central government of Tanzania regarding a roadmap to create a Comprehensive Local Economic Development Strategy to eradicate poverty in the country. He also presented at the 2017 International City Management Qingdao Forum in Qingdao, China.