On CFT and the W.W Caruth, Jr.Foundation
FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS, Dr. Jeverley “J.” Cook championed community causes and oversaw millions of grant dollars as vice president of grants, then as executive director of the W. W. Caruth, Jr. Foundation at Communities Foundation of Texas. His official retirement from CFT in October 2014 was a bittersweet time for his colleagues and community leaders.
“Through his intellect and dedication, J. has made a difference in so many lives across North Texas and beyond,” says Brent Christopher, president and CEO of Communities Foundation of Texas. “He was an especially attentive steward of the charitable legacy of Will Caruth, and J. oversaw multimillion-dollar grants that were truly transformational for our community.” During his tenure, the Caruth Foundation made the largest grant in the country from a public foundation to a municipal police department — a $15 million grant to the Dallas Police Department (DPD) to purchase much-needed equipment and to establish the Caruth Police Institute at the University of North Texas at Dallas, supporting leadership development within DPD. Another hallmark Caruth Foundation grant that J. was instrumental in shepherding was a recent $12 million commitment to the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation to build the Dallas Information Exchange Portal. It will connect medical institutions and nonprofit social service agencies in order to provide better care for the most vulnerable, low-income individuals in our community. J.’s depth of knowledge about the nonprofit sector, grantmaking and the philanthropic community will be missed tremendously at CFT. We continue to wish him the very best as he enjoys his much-deserved retirement and life’s next adventures alongside his wife, Kathleen.