October 2023 - Bridge Partners is pleased to announce the appointment of Sakira Cooke as Director, Federal Policy of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is a national civil rights organization with offices in five states and the District of Columbia. The SPLC focuses on communities of color and other marginalized groups in the South with the goal of defending their rights and mobilizing efforts to win progressive policies that transform the social and political context of the region. Their strategies include litigation, policy advocacy, research and documentation, community organizing, and public education.

SPLC strives to work with community partners to transform the political agenda, mobilize constituencies to demand change and build political power, and achieve racial justice in the places where slavery, genocide, and Jim Crow were drivers of society. Today, the legacy of these injustices perpetuates inequities and discrimination for Black, indigenous, and communities of color, particularly in the South.

Sakira Cook joins SPLC from Color of Change where she most recently served as Vice President of Campaigns, Policy, and Government Affairs. In her new role as Director, Federal Policy of SPLC, she will work to advance SPLC’s federal policy agenda in Washington, DC. She will oversee the legislative executive and national coalition advocacy strategies to achieve the organization’s impact goals and manage the federal policy team. 

Ms. Cook holds a Bachelor of Arts, cum laude from Howard University School of Business. She earned her Juris Doctor from Wayne University Law School.