The Hawkins Company Seeking New Leader for The L.A. Trust
May 13, 2025 – The Hawkins Company, a Los Angeles-based executive recruitment firm, has been retained by The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health (The L.A. Trust) to lead in its search for a new executive director. Williams D. Hawkins and Yonnine Hawkins Garr are leading the assignment. The L.A. Trust is seeking a mission-driven visionary and strategic executive director to lead the organization into its next chapter. This is a unique opportunity to shape and scale innovative programs, solidify strategic partnerships, and elevate the organization’s voice in policy and advocacy efforts.
Directly reporting to the board of directors, the executive director will be responsible for continuing to -implement the strategic plan as well as continuing to increase the impact of the organization. The executive director will have overall strategic and operational responsibility for The L.A. Trust’s programs, expansion, and execution of its mission. They are responsible for overall management and operations, marketing/public relations, and protection of The L.A. Trust’s financial asset
The successful candidate will be a collaborative and diplomatic leader with deep roots in Los Angeles and a strong passion for equity, public health, and education. They will be deeply committed to advancing health and wellness at the intersection of education, with a demonstrated dedication to advocating for the needs of Los Angeles student communities.
Those applying for this position should have proven strategic leadership experience, ideally within the nonprofit, public health, education, or advocacy sectors. They must have strong emotional intelligence and communication skills; relationship-driven with the ability to inspire others and build trust within the organization and across diverse communities. A master’s degree in public health, public policy, public administration, social services or a related clinical field is required. A minimum of 10 years of leadership experience in non-profit management is required with a demonstrated ability to develop and manage collaborative teams to achieve operational and financial goals.
The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health is a dedicated expert in advancing health equity for Los Angeles students. Its mission is to bridge health and education to achieve student wellness. Working with more than 300 providers, The L.A. Trust screened more than 23,000 children for oral health disease and linked each child to dental homes.
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.
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.
Related: The Hawkins Company Assists City of Santa Monica in Finding New Fire Chief
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.
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.
Urban League Assignment
The Hawkins Company is also currently leading the search for a new president and CEO for the Knoxville Area Urban League. Todd Hawkins is leading the assignment. The Knoxville Area Urban League seeks a CEO to manage and oversee the day-to-day operations of the non-profit economic development and social services agency. This leader serves as the chief administrator and reports to the board of directors; demonstrates the ability to develop, articulate and communicate the vision of the local affiliate; provides leadership to the organization, administering its functions and operations; and assists in the development of short- and long-range objectives.
The president and CEO will have overall responsibility for expanding and managing the operations of the organization, with a particular emphasis on increasing the level of engagement of Knoxville Area businesses and business leaders. They must be proficient in and have an above average ability in the areas of planning, monitoring, fundraising, fiscal administration, proposal writing, organizational skills, written and oral communication, planning and evaluation, human resource administration, community and public relations, vision, advocacy, and strategic planning.
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
