09/14/2026
Two years ago, Brandon Cox sat in our Walnut Creek waiting room for the first time, wondering what the future held for his son. A month ago, he walked in as CEO.
Brandon first learned about Easterseals Northern California as a parent, not an executive. After two-years navigating his son's diagnostic process – a challenging journey that's all too common for many families – he found his way to and ESNorCal. He spent an hour each week in that waiting room with families facing the same questions he was and watching staff live the values painted on the wall. Finding, as he puts it, hope.
His son still visits our same Walnut Creek office today for social skills group. And Brandon now leads the organization that's been part of his family's journey every step of the way.
It wasn't a job he was looking for. He was looking for the right support for his son. What he found was something he couldn't ignore.
"The value of what was happening even in the waiting room, you couldn't ignore it. You couldn’t ignore the impact it was having on people's lives."
When he eventually opened himself up to new opportunities, he created a prompt in AI with parameters set for the mission-driven work he was looking for. Every once in a while, he'd check back in with the same question: "Have you found my dream job yet?" Then one day Easterseals NorCal popped up in answer – the place where his son had been thriving for more than two years, where he'd spent an hour each week meeting families like his and where he had never considered being CEO.
"I think things happened for a reason. I think I ended up needing to be in that space for a reason."
As ESNorCal approaches its 100th year, we couldn't be more grateful to have someone leading us who knows firsthand what it means to sit in that waiting room — and what it means to walk out with hope.
Welcome, Brandon. 💙
