M. Michael Cooke, formerly executive director of the Department of Revenue and previous head of the Department of Regulatory Agencies under Gov. Bill Owens, will become the “transition” director for the Department of Early Childhood.

Gov. Jared Polis announced Thursday Cooke will serve in that role for about two years and focus on the “transition and change management associated with the establishment of the new agency.”

The administration intends to begin a search for an executive director for the new department, authorized under HB 21-1304.

The department, the 20th and final one allowed under the state Constitution, will carry out part of the tasks approved by voters in 2020 under Proposition EE, which increased taxes on tobacco products and levied taxes on vaping devices. Notably, voters were not asked to approve a new state department under that measure. The creation of a new state department came from a recommendation from the Early Childhood Learning Commission.

Under Proposition EE, revenues will pay for the cost of up to 10 hours per week of voluntary pre-K education, to be administered by the new department, beginning in the 2023-24 school year. Revenues, estimated at $175.6 million in 2021, and up to $275 million by 2027, will also backfill K-12 dollars lost due to the pandemic. Funding will also expand the supply of affordable housing, legal assistance on evictions, tobacco use prevention and children’s health, as well as general state spending. 

Cooke currently serves as Colorado state director of Council for a Strong America, a Washington, D.C.-based bipartisan nonprofit “that unites five organizations comprised of law enforcement leaders, retired admirals and generals, business executives, faith leaders, and prominent coaches and athletes who promote evidence-based solutions” to ensure the next generation will be successful, productive members of society.

According to Influence Watch, the council is funded by “left-of-center organizations,” including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Lumina Foundation.

Cooke has been affiliated with the council since March, 2017.

Prior to her appointment to the Owens administration, Cooke served two terms as a Douglas County commissioner. From 2007 to 2016, she was executive vice president for operations for the HOPE Online Learning Academy in Douglas County. Last year, the state board of education ordered the academy closed for nine years of poor academic performance.

Cooke earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Denver. She is a fourth-generation Colorado native and resides with her husband, Dennis, in Englewood.