Jamilla Hawkins’ career has spanned state government, nonprofits, and philanthropy. Most recently she served as Chief of Staff of the North Carolina Pandemic Recovery Office where she managed the reporting, communications, and outreach functions of the office. Before that, she worked at the NC Rural Center to strengthen food systems state-wide by promoting and providing resources to food business entrepreneurs, local farmers, and community leaders.
As a longtime environmental advocate, Katherine has worked for River Network, American Rivers, Triangle Land Conservancy, Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and the Center for Progressive Reform. She has led efforts to improve policies and practices for clean water and healthy communities at the local, state and national levels, including testifying before congressional committees, developing coalitions and serving on state and national working groups on topics including drought management and climate change adaptation.
A son of working-class immigrants, Ricky Hurtado grew up in Sanford, North Carolina, and is a product of Lee County Public Schools. Throughout his career in public service, Ricky has focused on fostering engaged citizens in North Carolina and creating effective public policy to build strong, vibrant communities, primarily through public education.
John Francis grew up on a small farm in Westfield, NC, and attended Surry County Schools, where both his parents were teachers. After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill, he spent three years in Boston working for City Year, an AmeriCorps organization dedicated to advancing educational equity through national service.
John moved back to North Carolina for a two-year fellowship with the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation (ZSR) and, over the following decade, supported ZSR's work in various contract and consultant roles.
Niketa Greene is a compassionate change agent with an equity and inclusion lens. Her professional career and personal life center on serving the community, and she enjoys helping individuals and organizations create transformation.
Katie is a native North Carolinian and perennial optimist who comes to the Foundation with a decade of experience in social change communication.
Tiki T. Windley joins the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation with more than 16 years of serving in the nonprofit sector, helping underserved residents attain the resources needed to create the change they wanted to see in their communities. Her grandmother instilled a passion and commitment to help those in need in her at a young age. As a result, Tiki decided to address the social and economic injustices she witnessed by working to provide people with access to the resources needed to make a positive change in their lives.
Alexandria Jones comes to the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation with nearly two decades of experience in social justice-based non-profits with a focus on racial and economic justice and workers’ rights.
Alex began social justice work in rural Philippines in conjunction with a local team to facilitate human rights and economic justice trainings for agricultural and indigenous communities working to develop strategies to preserve their land and stop community displacement by trans-national agricultural and mining companies.
Eniris Delgado-Riddick came to the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation with more than 12 years of experience serving in the non-profit sector, advocating for the LatinX/Immigrant community, helping underserved families to become self-sufficient.
Sorien Schmidt came to the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation with a broad range of experience in the nonprofit sector, from public policy and data analysis to coalition building on topics ranging from economic security to juvenile justice to health insurance coverage. Most recently, Sorien served as the North Carolina State Director of Enroll America where she managed staff and volunteers working statewide to hold conversations with more than 200,000 North Carolinians in-person and by phone regarding Affordable Care Act health insurance coverage.
