From 1994 to November, 2018, Michele Cook served IICRD primarily as Capacity Director on the Management Team. Now she is happy to have stepped down from that role, to become an IICRD Senior Advisor and also an Associate for project work.
Michele has a background in Physiotherapy and Community Development, and has dedicated the last 25 years of her life to engaging the perspectives of children with disabilities, vulnerable families, community asset building, and the development of capacity building tools that build on local strengths and facilitate systemic change. Michele has worked in Indigenous and vulnerable communities across the Americas, Asia and Africa and authoured many of IICRD’s training materials. She was one of the original developers of IICRD’s Triple ‘A’ (Circle of Rights) Approach as part of our Starting from Strengths Initiative. Her latest passion and focus is integrating the learning and insights of the last 20 years of IICRD's work of implementing child rights with our multiple partners and contexts into our YouLEAD and Child Protection in Development Program, and doing deeper work with the self reflection and understanding needed for youth workers and practitioners across different cultures and contexts to truly make a positive difference in children’s lives.
photo by: Alison Burdett
