Board of Trustees

Sarah Hawkins is the CEO of the East Region of Hines, Hines, the global real estate investment, development, and property manager, and a member of the firm’s global Executive Committee. She is responsible for all development, acquisition, asset management and operations activity in the East Region, which includes active offices in New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. Previously, she served as the East Region’s Chief Operating Officer, and prior to that she was a Managing Director in the New York regional office. Prior to joining Hines as an associate in 2011, she was an associate at Fortress Investment Group and before that an analyst at The Blackstone Group. Hawkins earned her BA and BBA from the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa.

David Sweeny provides guidance and technical assistance as a founding advisor on real estate and facilities. David is a Founding CEO and current board member of Civic Builders and formerly the Vice-President for Real Estate and Finance at Children’s Aid Society. David is a seasoned executive motivated by improving non-profit financial performance through leveraging private sector strategies and best practices.

David has a strong track record in sourcing social-impact capital and startup grants, generating earned income for government-funded agencies, launching and scaling social enterprise, and supporting organization change. He has a deep understanding of real estate, opportunity zones, and how to bring large-scale facilities projects to on-time, on-budget completion. At Children's Aid Society, David designed and executed a five-year strategic plan to reorient the agency’s real estate and finance practices to better support business and program priorities. The assignment included $100M in asset sales, $80M of new acquisitions, 190,000 square feet of new construction, and the issuance of $75M in tax-exempt revenue bonds. He drove improved performance across the company’s portfolio of forty three sites, including 400,000 square feet of charter schools, medical clinics, community centers and administrative offices. David is an Advisory Member of LISC, Chairperson of the Disability Investment Fund, and was named by Crain's New York Business as New Yorker of the Week.

Katharine Moana Birbalsingh is a British teacher and education reform advocate who is the founder and head Mistress of the Michaela Community School in Wembley, England, the highest performing public school in Great Britain. Birbalsingh is the author of two books, Singleholic (2009) and To Miss with Love (2011), and editor of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Teachers: The Michaela Way (2016) and Michaela: The Power of Culture (2020). She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Ms. Birbalsingh is a formal advisor to the leadership team at Vertex Partnership Academies.