Foundation Trustees Bruce and Jaqueline Cook have left a significant legacy to the Cook Family Foundation.
Photo Credit: DLP Photographic

We have lost two of our leaders.  In May of this year our matriarch, Jackie Cook, passed away.  This added to the sadness of the death of Bruce Cook last October.  The Cook Family Foundation is committed to continuing the philanthropic legacy of these two former Trustees.  Prior to his passing, Bruce helped lead the Foundation in planning for its future. Personally, he made estate plans to continue the work started by his parents.  Go to our “About” page HERE and you can read more about the Foundation’s history and see a video in which Bruce Cook explains his philanthropic motivations.

You can read the obituary of Bruce HERE and Jaqueline HERE.

Thanks to the foresight and generosity of several family members, the Cook Family Foundation’s endowment will more than double in size in 2024. Taking this significant step forward requires reflection on the Foundation’s history and legacy, deliberation over future opportunities, and planning for effective grant-making.  To create space for this work, the Foundation is making no new grants in 2023. The Foundation will still award scholarships to the three campuses of the University of Michigan, its Nonprofit Capacity Building Program continues, and other previous commitments will be honored.

Going forward, the Foundation will build on its history of grant-making in education, environment, the arts, public health, and community development. New areas of grant-making are being explored as well. We seek the input and ideas of those we work with. In all that we do, we will be guided by our three values of Integrity, Inclusiveness, and Impact.  We know we cannot achieve any of our goals without partners, and we know we have our greatest impact when we collaborate in our grant-making. 

Follow this webpage for updates on our work as we plan to do more in 2024.