member highlights
Sustainer Spotlight: Brooke Christopher Koumbas by Anna-Bryce Hobson Brook Christopher Koumbas has done it all. She has traveled the world making films, walked red carpets, photographed Hollywood stars, and built a prosperous 15-year real estate career in Manhattan. While Brook’s tenacity, work ethic, and bubbly personality are among the skills that contributed to her successful careers in film production and residential real estate brokerage, Brook’s experiences throughout her 12-year membership in the Junior League were instrumental in guiding her towards her ultimate passion in life: mental health training and advocacy.
Formative Years in the New York Junior League Raised by her father, an internationally acclaimed artist and photographer, Brook knew early on she had a passion for the photographic arts. In 2003, Brook moved from Santa Fe, New Mexico to New York City as a burgeoning young photographer. She quickly landed a job as a fashion photographer with Vanity Fair. In 2008, Brook joined the New York Junior League (NYJL) and started serving on the Cooking and Health Education for Families (CHEF) committee, where she ultimately participated for the next 10 years. As CHEF co-chair, Brook was instrumental in growing the committee from a small team to 50 members. She also helped secure a $3,500 grant to fund CHEF’s mission: educating both parents and children in disenfranchised neighborhoods on the importance of physical health, personal hygiene and a nutritious diet. CHEF provided “On the Go Preparation Kits” to thousands of children in some of the most oppressed neighborhoods of NYC. The kits included cooking essentials such as small stove tops, pots and pans, donated foods and recipes to allow families to cook in shelters that lacked kitchens. Since 2005, Brook has been a director with the Christopher Foundation for the Arts (CFFTA). During her time with the organization, Brook has distributed art supplies, films, and reading materials across the globe. In addition to her humanitarian work, Brook spent six years traveling all over the world, shooting and editing two films with theatrical releases featured in the Cannes, Venice and Berlin film festivals. While Brook seized this opportunity to embrace life as a filmmaker, she always felt like her commitment to CHEF and the NYJL gave her a place to come home to after extended trips abroad. To Brook, “time stood still” when she was working with NYC’s youth. Her years of volunteer service with CHEF opened her eyes to the needs of children impacted by trauma in their early years. Having lost her own mother when she was only six, Brook 12
recognized the necessity of teaching children healthy habits such as self-regulating emotions through meditation and understanding how the brain functions early on in life.
From the Junior League to the Big Leagues In 2016, Brook decided to turn the eye-opening experiences she had helping children through NYJL into a career. She was riding in an elevator on her way to attend a mental health advocacy meeting with the NYJL Public Policy Committee and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) when a literal elevator pitch instantly changed her life. She asked State Senator Jesse Hamilton, who was in the elevator with her, to sign off on a mental-health related bill. Senator Hamilton not only supported the bill, but also hired Brook shortly after their encounter! While working for the New York State Senate, Brook completed her Masters in Social Work with honors at Hunter College. At graduation, she received the prestigious Reva Fine Holtzman Award of Excellence in Field Work for her outstanding field research and practice while working in the New York State Senate. Upon graduation, she worked as the Head of Health and Wellness for the country’s first technology training ground and public wellness site in public housing. In this role, Brook taught more than 2,500 elementary school students how to meditate as a means of coping with traumas they may be experiencing or have experienced in their own lives. To Brook, the “greatest instrument known to man sits between our two ears.” One of her achievements for which she is most proud is advocating for a policy to implement a mental health hotline that is easily accessible by a three digit phone number (Dial 988). Due in part to her advocacy, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (988) will launch nationwide in 2022. Over the years, Brook has also advocated for a policy requiring pediatricians to conduct
