Take Five with Fatima Cooke: Chief Equity, Engagement, and Strategy Officer

Take Five is a series that highlights some of the many CPS staff members who are going above and beyond for our schools. If you know someone who is making a difference, nominate them to be featured here.

This week, we are excited to introduce you to Fatima Cooke, the Chief Equity, Engagement, and Strategy Officer (CEESO) for Chicago Public Schools. As CEESO, Fatima works to ensure all CPS students have the same opportunity for a high-quality education, no matter their background, zip code, or country of origin.

Fatima’s journey with CPS started when she was a student herself. A graduate of Simeon Career Academy, Fatima spent time early in her career working with children at the Chicago Park District before deciding to go back to school to be a teacher. Fatima began her career in education as a substitute teacher at Myra Bradwell Elementary School, where she had graduated from elementary school herself, as well as a primary grades teacher at CICS Prairie Campus. Fatima then began roles with the former Office of School Improvement supporting CPS high schools, including Fenger, Marshall, and Bowen, before moving into administration. Fatima served students at Sumner Math and Science Community Academy as assistant principal and then principal, which she describes as the most impactful work she has ever had. After seven years at Sumner, Fatima became the Deputy Chief of Network 5 before being appointed to her current position as CEESO earlier this year.

What led you to equity work in CPS? 

I am very close to the work of the Office of Equity and Dr. Maurice Swinney, the former Chief Equity Officer. We were principals together, and I remember encouraging him to apply for the position back in 2018. Once this new position of CEESO was created and posted, I was excited about the vision for the role and how we could change the way we engage with parents, communities, and other stakeholders. I had already been focused on equity work in my previous roles, and I saw this position as a way to have a much greater impact. I thought long and consulted my professional and personal circles before hitting the application button, but in the same way I encouraged Dr. Swinney to apply, I asked myself — if not you, then who?

Can you describe the work you lead as the Chief Equity, Engagement, and Strategy Officer?

I work on figuring out how we can continue operationalizing the CPS Equity Framework and measuring its impact. A big piece of my role is strengthening the relationship between the work that CPS does around equity and the work that we do around community engagement. The Office of Equity and the Office of Family and Community Engagement (FACE) workstreams are fundamental to each other. For example, we want to ensure that our FACE staff, who work directly with parents and community members, are equity-trained. We also want to use these direct relationships to empower our parents and community members to hold us accountable. Those are the big-picture, long-term goals. One of my most immediate priorities is looking at how we can make our access and enrollment policies and practices more equitable by asking questions like — How can we ensure equitable access to high-quality school models and programs for all students? What barriers must we eliminate to ensure historically marginalized communities have a seat at the table to co-create the solution?

What do you like to do outside of work?

I am super social, so I love hanging out with family and friends. I love girls’ nights and family gatherings where we play games and joke around. I have a daughter who is a 10-year-old CPS student. She has a lot of interests — mainly in swimming, cooking, and video games. That’s how we spend our time on the weekends and weeknights when we’re not doing homework! Also, I have more recently discovered my appreciation for taking a good vacation. As a principal, I did not take breaks as much as I probably should have, and I took my first vacation last Christmas when I went to Mexico for a week. 

What’s something most people wouldn’t know about you?

Most people probably don’t know that I graduated from Simeon with a cosmetology license! I had initially wanted to do fashion design, but I also loved doing hair. I used my cosmetology license to make money throughout college. Even to this day, I love doing hair, and I still love fashion in my own way!

What possession could you absolutely not live without and why?

Unfortunately, probably my phone. Everything is connected to it! I couldn’t be without my calendar. Everywhere I go it’s because my phone tells me it’s time to do that. Other than that, I’m not attached to too many other material things. But if I didn’t have coffee (which I like with just unsweetened hazelnut cream)— we may have a problem.