Board of Directors

Jackie Hawkey has served in various management roles with Black Creek Group and its affiliated companies Dividend Capital and Black Creek Capital since 1997. She currently serves as Managing Director overseeing Black Creek Exchange, a 1031 exchange investment program for accredited investors. Prior to this, Ms. Hawkey was a principal in CapEx, LP, a successful private investment company that invested in small to mid-sized public and private companies across a variety of industries. Before joining CapEx, Ms. Hawkey spent four years as a principal with Corporate Properties of the Americas (CPA), a fully integrated industrial real estate company operating throughout Mexico that was eventually sold to a large state pension fund. Ms. Hawkey also spent five years as an investment banker in the fixed income department of William Blair & Company in Chicago and four years as a corporate banker with First Chicago Corporation. Ms. Hawkey received a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and an MBA with honors from the University of Texas. Ms. Hawkey also currently serves on or has been a Board member on several state, non-profit (mostly education related) and corporate Boards.

Drew is a retired Principal for Deloitte Consulting LLP where he developed a number of technology and financial service industry businesses and had the pleasure of serving several top 10 banking, mortgage, commercial and captive finance clients. He has over 30 years of experience in advising clients on competitive strategy, planning, designing and implementing solutions to improve the customer experience, and financial and operational effectiveness. In addition, Drew has extensive merger and acquisitions experience including advising clients on business portfolio sales, performing large operational due diligences, leading major merger integration projects and assisting executive teams in analyzing asset financing, strategic and operational options. Drew is driven by the belief that every child deserves an excellent education as a foundation for a choice filled life. He acts on this belief through his involvement in KIPP, coaching in the CityLax lacrosse program and in leading the mentoring program for men’s lacrosse at the University of Maryland. Drew has an undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin. In his free time, he enjoys reading, biking, skiing, hiking, running, lacrosse and traveling with his wife to visit their children in San Francisco, CA and Bogota, Colombia.

Melissa has more than 15 years of K-12 experience as a teacher, curriculum designer, higher education instructor, consultant, and non-profit leader. At Teach for America Colorado, she provides executive leadership in strategy, finance, and operations. Prior to Teach for America, she designed and launched Relay’s Early Childhood Master’s program. Before that, Melissa served as the Vice President of Lifelong Learning at the Latin American Community Center in Wilmington, Delaware. In addition, as the Director of School Solutions at Innovative Schools, Melissa successfully led three founding school boards through the charter approval process in the state of Delaware. Melissa graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a dual degree in Sociology and African American Studies, has a Masters degree in Urban Education and Policy Studies from Temple University, and completed all doctoral coursework in Reading, Writing, and Literacy at the University of Pennsylvania.

Steven K. Talley is a member of the Corporate Transactions Practice Group. He works primarily in the areas of mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance transactions. Mr. Talley has represented a number of public and private companies and private equity clients in connection with acquisitions and dispositions in numerous industries including telecommunications, high tech, manufacturing, and energy. Mr. Talley received his law degree in 1991 from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif, and an Articles Editor on the High Technology Law Journal. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from Harvey Mudd College in 1984. In addition, he has taken a significant number of graduate-level economics courses at the Claremont Graduate School.

Pat joined RootED in February 2019 and is the Managing Partner. He leads the autonomous school investments and operations of RootED. His favorite part of working with RootED is the team chemistry and deep focus on equity and quality. Most recently, he was part of the executive leadership team at Revolution Foods where he managed the national school/community partnerships within existing and expansion markets across the United States. Pat is a graduate of the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado, from which he also received a graduate degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology. He and his wife have three children ─ Kaitlyn, Max and Sean ─ all of whom graduated from DPS schools (DCIS-Baker and East).

Mr. Ezrine is the Group Vice President and General Manager for DaVita Integrated Kidney Care, a division of DaVita Healthcare. His teams manage over $1.7B of medical cost and provide support to over 30,000 patients a month through full case management, in-patient case management, discharge planning, and education. Todd joined DaVita VillageHealth in August of 2011 after 5 years as President and General Manager for Global Medical imaging (GMI), a $25M company focused on diagnostic ultrasound and nuclear imaging. Prior to GMI, he spent 5 years doing corporate strategy and business development for both Bain & Company and Underwriters Laboratories. Todd received his M.B.A. from the University of Michigan and earned his B.S. in Biology from Washington and Lee University. In his spare time, Todd and his wife Kim enjoy skiing, cross-fitting, and spending time with their 10 and 15 year old daughters and 18 year old son.

Khadija Katherine Haynes is a native of Denver and a fourth-generation Coloradoan. In addition to years of engagement in cultural arts, she has been an activator, community leader, and strategist in the Denver community. Ms. Haynes has carved a national niche as an astute and sought-after political advisor and governmental manager. She is well-known for her breadth of experience, her strong management capabilities, and her excellent leadership skills.

Joanna Hootnick has worked in development for nearly twenty years, professionally and as a volunteer. She currently serves Vice President of Leadership Gifts on the national development team at Teach For America. Previously she spent nearly 14 years at Columbia University in various roles across annual giving, reunion giving, major gifts, communications and campaign management. Joanna also serves as national participation co-chair for her undergraduate alma mater. Joanna received a BA from Harvard College, an MA in Higher and Post-Secondary Education and an MEd in Politics and Education from Columbia University, and an MBA from NYU. She has earned the Flather Award for her fundraising efforts at Harvard and has lectured at Columbia University as part of its fundraising management master’s degree program. She lives in Denver, CO with her husband, Scott, and dog, Jerry.

Elena is a proud first generation latina, her career has been in education or non-profits. Throughout her educational career she has always worked in schools and districts with a high latino population in hopes of giving back and having a greater impact on her community. As a public school educator, she understands the power behind knowledge,which is why she has continued her own education. Elena has a Bachelors degree in Interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in Elementary Education and a Masters degree in Administration and Supervision. Aside from formal degrees she is also an alumna of the Circle of Latina Leadership, EMERGE Colorado, CLLARO Latino Civic Leadership training and most recently the Latino Leadership Institute. Elena has served on the COLOR board of directors and currently is a board member of the The Wayfaring Band board and the Presidents Leadership Class at CU Boulder.When Elena is not working or volunteering she enjoys spending time with her seven nieces and nephews.

Beth has over 20 years’ experience helping companies align people strategies to their business strategy. She has deep experience creating organizational programs to recruit, onboard, and develop employees, and coaching individuals through layoffs and career transitions. She has worked with all sizes of companies from startups such as Guild Education to global organizations such as Deloitte Consulting. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis and her MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California. Beth lives in Denver with her husband, son, and daughter and enjoys skiing, running and practicing yoga.