Rick Cobb, executive vice president of Chicago-based outplacement and executive coaching consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., has been appointed to the board of CASA of Cook County. (Court Appointed Special Advocates)
A long-time member of the Chicago business community, Cobb will lever his experience and network of professionals to help CASA provide more one-on-one support to Cook County’s abused and neglected children.
CASA’s volunteers serve as extensions of the judges, meeting with and working with the children in foster care, and all parties involved, working toward permanent resolutions. For almost 30 years, CASA of Cook County has been training volunteers to stand up for abused and neglected children in an overwhelmed and extremely under-resourced foster care system.
With more than 5,600 children in its foster care system, Cook County has the highest need for special advocates. Unfortunately, limited resources allow CASA to provide one-on-one support to just 6 percent of those who need it.
Even as the economy improves for some, many others remain unemployed or woefully underemployed. This places a massive strain on families, resulting in more reported cases of abuse and neglect of children. CASA of Cook County is the largest of 36 CASA programs operating in Illinois and is the only program of its kind in Cook County.
Cobb joined Challenger, Gray & Christmas in 1989. He currently serves as executive vice president overseeing all relationship development, coaching and transition counseling for North America.
Since its inception, he has also served on the board of the global Outplacement organization, Career Star Group. Career Star Group has grown to become the largest Outplacement provider organization in the world.
