Kari Cooke appointed as director of D.C. Office of Deaf, Deafblind, and Hard of Hearing
Kari Cooke was named the director of the new D.C. Office of Deaf, Deafblind and Hard of Hearing.
She was appointed to the position by D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, who made the announcement on her YouTube page on Monday. Bowser said “Director Cooke is an experienced leader who has spent many years in policy development and community engagement through her work at the Center for Disability Rights, National Black Deaf Advocates, and more.” Bowser thanked D.C. residents for “responding to a survey with recommendations and priority issues for this new office.
Cooke responded in the video that she is “honored to be appointed as the first leader of this incredibly important office.”
The office was established as the result of work from D.C. Deaf community activists and members of the DC Association of the Deaf who worked with the D.C. Council to put forth a proposal for a deaf-focused office. The proposal to establish the office was approved in 2020 and it was funded last year with a budget of about $800,000. The office will have six members in total, Cooke is the first one named.
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The Washington Post published a feature on Cooke and the new office on Tuesday. Cooke told the Post that her primary directive is to help ensure that deaf and DeafBlind children are properly connected to city services. Another area of focus of the office will be to connect more deaf residents to jobs.
Cooke was recently the Vice President of CSD Neighborhood. CSD released a video of Cooke’s life in 2019. She said she was born in Canada, then moved to Trinidad, then to the U.S. She called Brooklyn, New York as her “heart home.” She said she lost hearing around two years old and was mainstreamed her entire life. She said she first saw other people like her, especially Black Deaf people, in college. She said the National Black Deaf Advocates significantly changed her life because it changed her experience and her concept of family — calling the Black Deaf community her family.
The DC Association of the Deaf tweeted on Tuesday a congratulatory message to Cooke, saying “We look forward to supporting the community together!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O16SEZ_ulXY
https://www.facebook.com/ThisIsCSD/videos/2377969059101105/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/06/14/kari-cooke-deaf-hearing/
https://www.dailymoth.com/blog/dc-council-funds-office-of-deaf-deafblind-and-hard-of-hearing