The Hawkins Company Recruits CEO for The Inner City Education Foundation
December 11, 2024 – The Hawkins Company, a Los Angeles-based executive recruitment firm, has assisted in the recruitment of TyAnthony Davis as the new CEO of The Inner City Education Foundation (ICEF). He succeeds Parker Hudnut who served as CEO for 13 years. Yonnine Hawkins Garr, William Hawkins, and Tisa Jones led the assignment. “Mr. Davis’ expertise and proven track record of accountability demonstrates clear alignment with ICEF’s strategic path forward,” said Angila Romious, chair, ICEF board of directors. “The ICEF board of directors found Mr. Davis’ unique blend of educational technology, entrepreneurial and financial acumen, and innovative practices to problem solving, as defining characteristics that will lead to long-term advancement of student academic outcomes that parents and our community have come to know and expect from us.”
Mr. Davis’ appointment comes following a robust and competitive national search process with support from The Hawkins Company. The search process was led by a committee of the ICEF board, headed by Ms. Romious together with two other executive committee members, board member Dana Henry and board member William Lucas.
Mr. Davis is an education executive with nearly twenty years of academic and professional experience. He began his academic career as a 4th grade teacher with Teach for America in Las Vegas. Mr. Davis launched his legal career in Los Angeles working in corporate transactions and venture capital at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton. After practicing law, he realized his true passion was in education and founded a charter school, Vox Collegiate of Los Angeles, in 2017. At Vox Collegiate of Los Angeles, Mr. Davis created innovative learning environments that blended instruction with technology and focused on uplifting and strengthening communications as a key skill for success in career and life. And in 2023, Mr. Davis co-founded Enlighten AI, an education technology company leveraging AI to make the hard work of teaching more sustainable
“I am honored to join ICEF Public Schools as CEO,” said Mr. Davis. “For over 25 years, ICEF has been a beacon of educational excellence in Los Angeles, steadfastly committed to empowering students to achieve their fullest potential. As we look to the future, my vision is to build upon ICEF’s history of service to the community, enhancing our capacity to serve more students and families, and providing the foundation for students to realize their dreams and lead self-determined lives.”
The Inner City Education Foundation, known as ICEF Public Schools, is a non-profit charter school network serving communities in the Los Angeles area for 25 years. The organization currently operates seven high-quality, TK-12th grade, tuition-free, charter schools.
Established in 1984, The Hawkins Company is a management consulting firm specializing in executive recruitment. While recognized for its expertise in diversity recruiting, the firm is a general practitioner that focuses on achieving the executive level staffing objectives of private, public, educational and non-profit clients. Early on, The Hawkins Company focused exclusively on private sector recruiting. Over time, it was requested to conduct searches for government agencies and became nationally recognized for its ability to apply private sector search strategies to meet the recruitment needs of public sector clients.
Related: The Hawkins Company Assists City of Santa Monica in Finding New Fire Chief
Today, its client base includes educational institutions and non-profit organizations. The firm has conducted over 700 national, regional, and local executive searches for CEOs, COOs, CAOs, CFOs, and other officers, directors, senior managers and professional staff.
Season Search Professionals
Joining The Hawkins Company in 2013, Ms. Hawkins Garr serves as a vice president for the firm. Ms. Garr began her career in the mortgage banking and finance industry, becoming a skilled real estate commercial and residential lender, eventually working in real estate development, construction, as well as real estate asset management. Her executive-search work focuses on financial services, economic and community development, construction, facility management, asset management, and human resources. Ms. Hawkins Garr has co-led many of the firm’s senior-level assignments.
A part of The Hawkins Company since 2018, Mr. Hawkins serves as a vice president for the firm. With a vast and varied background in community engagement, brand management and advocacy strategy, his role at the firm is twofold. He concentrates on creating new development opportunities, widening the firm’s public engagement and outreach. He also conducts executive searches for entrepreneurial enterprises at the C-suite level, as well as for community-based non-profits and has developed a specialized expertise in recruiting fund development executives.
Ms. Jones joined the search firm in 2016. She began her career in hospitality, managing her family’s restaurant business, overseeing human resources, customer service, public relations, and finances. She specializes in human resources, legal, finance, IT, and general management in all sectors. Ms. Jones has played a major role on numerous successful executive search assignments while managing the firm’s candidate background and reference process.
Related: The Hawkins Company Recruits Chief Race & Equity Officer for the City of San Diego
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
