Jerry Hawkins is the Executive Director of Dallas Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (DTRHT), part of a national 14-place initiative by The W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Jerry is also co-founder of The Imagining Freedom Institute (The IF Institute), a co-principle of Young Leaders Strong City and co-creator of the Race 2 Equity DFW training series. 

Jerry was formerly the Project Director of Bachman Lake Together, an early childhood collective impact initiative in Dallas with the Zero to Five Funders Collaborative and The Dallas Foundation, and Director of Children’s Services at the Wilkinson Center in East Dallas/Southeast Dallas. 

He was also a Presidential Leadership Scholars Fellow, a 2013 Leadership ISD Fellow, a recent Leadership Arts Institute Fellowship graduate with the Business Council for the Arts, a Trustee appointed member of Dallas ISD’s Racial Equity Advisory Council, and Dallas County Historical Commission member. While living in Chicago, Jerry previously worked for the Chicago Urban League and Chicago Public Schools.

Jerry received a bachelor’s degree in education from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale and a master’s degree in education from Northeastern Illinois University. He resides in Dallas with his three children.