Jennifer Hawkins

President & CEO

Jennifer Hawkins is our president and CEO. She has more than 20 years of experience in the nonprofit community development and housing sectors, having worked in several cities, including San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Providence. She understands how to organize diverse partners, navigate an environment with unrelenting demand for scarce resources, motivate a talented team to generate high impact, and improve the health and equity of communities. She also serves as an ex officio and non-voting member of ONE|NB’s Board of Directors.

Since assuming her role at ONE Neighborhood Builders in 2017, Jennifer has doubled the capacity and breadth of the organization and has established an ambitious strategic direction.

Jennifer has worked in senior management positions and as a member of the board of directors for organizations that tackle the most pressing housing and community health challenges, including Women’s Development Corporation, Providence Housing Authority, Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless, Madison Park Development Corporation in Roxbury, MA, and Breaking Ground in New York City. Her work has addressed issues of insecure and unaffordable housing; unsafe and physically blighted neighborhoods; and lack of access to parks, healthy foods, and community services. She previously worked as the deputy executive director for Olneyville Housing Corporation (which changed its name to ONE Neighborhood Builders after a 2015 merger) from 2011 to 2015. She currently serves on NeighborWorks America’s Real Estate Advisory Group, Rhode Island House of Representative’s Special Commission to Study the Low and Moderate Income Housing Act, Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources Distributed Generation Contracts Board, Rhode Island Housing Resources Commission, and the Town of Smithfield Planning Board.

Jennifer received her master of public administration from New York University and her bachelor of arts from Connecticut College. She resides in Smithfield, Rhode Island, with her husband and daughter.

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