Who We Are
Dr. Carey Hawkins Ash, J.D., Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Principal
Dr. Carey Hawkins Ash, Esq., is Foresight’s co-founder and supports organizations toward success by ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of their operations.
In addition to leading Foresight, Dr. Hawkins Ash also serves as Vice President of Community Development & Social Impact at Making Waves Foundation, the supporting organization for Making Waves Academy, a high-performing, majority-minority public charter school in Richmond, California, where he advances more than $400 million in school growth related capital projects, including securing authorization for a 20-acre, grades 5 through 12 charter school in Pittsburg, CA.
Dr. Hawkins Ash also served as Chief of Staff for Business and Operations in Oakland Unified School District, where he oversaw an $800 million unit consisting of 7 departments and 24 subdivisions in service of 118 schools and 40,000 students. Dr. Hawkins Ash previously practiced law in Lozano Smith's Sacramento office, and specialized in issues pertaining to litigation, labor and employment, and diversity, equity, and inclusion issues. Before Lozano Smith, Dr. Hawkins Ash worked as the Legislative Aide to a Louisiana State Senator from New Orleans to rebuild the City after the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina.
Dr. Hawkins Ash earned both his law degree and Ph.D. in Education Policy and Organizational Leadership from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His primary research focus is ensuring “The First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendment Rights to Access Equal Information in America’s Public Schools” for all students.
Dr. Chanee Hawkins Ash, Ph.D.
Co-Founder and Principal
Dr. Chanee Hawkins Ash is a passionate educator, researcher, and education strategist with a career marked by success in school transformation, stakeholder engagement, education research, and project management. She is well versed in conducting needs assessments, devising system and process improvements, and engaging in program strategy, design, and delivery, all while focused on student growth and success.
Chanee is respected for contributing to successful school quality reviews, school redesign efforts, teaching, and conducting education research focused on understanding how systems of race and class impact the educational ecosystem and perpetuate structural inequity.
As a product of America’s public schools, Chanee knows first-hand that access to quality and equitable education experiences is not guaranteed. However, she holds an unequivocal belief that with the proper policies, supports, and advocates, all students have the ability to succeed beyond the trajectories that society has set to artificially limit them.
Dr. Hawkins Ash has worked with a diverse portfolio of organizations, including the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, New Orleans Public Schools, Oakland Unified School District, Arizona State University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Entangled Solutions, The Teaching Well, and the Mayor’s Office in Sacramento, California. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Truman State University (Kirksville, MO) and received her Master of Arts and Ph.D. in Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, with a primary focus in the sociology of education.