Robert Rooks, Project Manager
Robert Rooks is Director of Community Engagement at the J. McDonald Williams Institute, a social policy think tank dedicated to challenging perspectives and changing lives in urban communities. Along with his focus on ensuring that the Institute’s research is driven by community needs, Mr. Rooks is also the project manager of neighborhoodIDEA, an upcoming comprehensive community information resource centered around a website—dfwIDEA.org—which is a next-generation replacement for the Institute’s present Dallas Indicators system. Along with his work at the Williams Institute, he is also a Fellow at the Open Society Institute, a private operating and grantmaking foundation which aims to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform.
Prior to joining the Institute, Mr. Rooks has served as consultant and advisor to organizations including the Drug Policy Alliance, Open Society Institute and ACLU of Mississippi. Mr. Rooks was also the executive director of A Better Way Foundation in New Haven, CT. He has served as an adjunct professor teaching social movement theory at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work and St. Joseph’s College, and has also taught research methods at Central Connecticut State University.
Mr. Rooks received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Prairie View A&M University, where he also minored in Business Administration. He later received his Master of Social Work degree from the University of Connecticut, with a major in Community Organization and a substantive area of Urban Issues.
Editor
Gail Clark
Editorial Consultant/Website Coordinator, J. McDonald Williams Institute
Compass Point Researchers
Kathryn Cardarelli, PhD
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, University of North Texas Health Science Center
Director, Center for Community Health
Rachael Jackson, MPH
Research Associate, UNT Health Science Center
Jim Murdoch, PhD
Senior Fellow, J. McDonald Williams Institute
Professor of Economy, University of Texas at Dallas
Director, Center for Urban Economics
Donald Smith, PhD
CEO, Generations Center
Kelly Ylitalo, MPH
Research Associate, UNT Health Science Center