Donielle Rooks

Rooks oversees and facilitates key operations to support FoundationCCC programs, working closely with departmental leadership across the organization. As a director, Rooks is dedicated to fostering strong partnerships within the organization and with external stakeholders to maximize collective impact. Her goal is to ensure that the work benefits both students and the FoundationCCC community.

FoundationCCC Highlights

• Led the digitization of documents and the implementation of workflows within the contract management system to create greater efficiencies and capacity
• Adapted and initiated the departmental Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) reading and discussion groups, which are now led by other department leaders and have expanded to include other departments. Led a DEI policy audit review in partnership with HR and Executives

Before joining the FoundationCCC, Rooks began working as a State Field Representative in Connecticut, where she was responsible for program planning, monitoring, and providing technical assistance for statewide Caregiver, Medicare, and Medicaid fraud programs. She continued as a Grants and Contracts Specialist with the UT Southwestern Medical Center, where she was responsible for reviewing research grants for federal and private compliance and negotiating terms and conditions of contracts. In California, Rooks worked with the CA Coverage & Health Care Initiative, providing management and coordination to the Affordable Care Act school-based outreach and enrollment partnership campaign. 

Rooks holds a Bachelor of Social Work from McDaniel College, and a Master of Social Work from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work. She also completed the Nonprofit Risk Management Center’s Emerging Risk Leaders Certificate Program and the AALRR Law Corporation’s Cultural Competency & Sensitivity Training.