About Jonathan

Jonathan has devoted his career to public service and the betterment of our community. After graduating college with his Bachelor of Science from Pacific Union College, Jonathan went to work as a Communications and Development Director for the Rainbow Community Center in Contra Costa County.
 

“I had been planning on going to law school. That was always the dream,” said Cook. “But as I looked around at the LGBTQ community, a community to which I belonged, I saw an under-served population existing in a legal limbo without the legal protections that later Supreme Court rulings like Obergefell or acts like the Respect for Marriage Act would later bring. Going to law school was the easy choice. Choosing to forgo that and dig in to do the nitty gritty underpaid non-profit work, that was the right choice. I’ve never looked back.”
 

Jonathan advocated at the city, county, and state level to attain the funds to build out programs that the community desperately needed. Looking to duplicate that success in neighboring communities, Jonathan joined the Solano Pride Center as Executive Director in 2018. He not only increased the Center’s budget by 150%, he immediately went to work to establish a senior assistance program.
 

“Seniors over time lose their parents, siblings, friends, and loved ones to the infirmity of age, leaving them isolated. Social engagement is the foundation of who we are. It gives a sense of belonging, of identity, and helps us to feel fulfilled. Seniors lose that over the course of their lifetimes. We built a robust senior engagement program that I’m very proud of focusing on nutrition, community togetherness, and tackling emerging mental health crises,” said Jonathan.
 

It was the work that Jonathan did with the community’s elders that turned his focus to
what he couldn’t fix in the non-profit space but had long advocated for: housing. Looking to repeat his prior success in the career space in housing, Jonathan began as the Executive Director of the Sacramento Housing Alliance in 2023.