Page 31 - DistWomenMS_2025

Kimberly Hilliard serves as the President/CEO of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship (CSE) and founding CEO of Hilliard Research and Consulting Group. Dr. Hilliard, a native of Washington, D.C., holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tuskegee University; M.S. in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of New Orleans; and Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning from Jackson State University.
Dr. Hilliard has over 33 years of experience in engineering, urban planning, real estate and community development, and higher education administration. She designed and managed various multi-million-dollar construction projects during her early career. In 1994, Hilliard became one of the few African American women developing airports in the country. Hilliard leads a dynamic team at CSE that committed to breaking the sustained cycle of poverty for a West Jackson (MS) community through a comprehensive focus on housing, education, economic development, and community engagement. Through the Hilliard Research and Consulting Group, her work centers on organizational sustainability, community redevelopment with a social justice focus, and grantmaking. In the past 3 years, Hilliard is directly responsible for securing $13.7M in grant funds for under-resourced communities and organizations.
She holds certifications in Affordable Housing Financing; Historic Preservation; Sustainability Leadership; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and Community Facilitation. Dr. Hilliard’s academic lectures traditionally focus on emerging housing policies, local economic development strategies, and historic preservation.
During her progressive tenure at Jackson State University, Hilliard served as lead community developer and planner, senior Executive Cabinet member, and Special Assistant to the President. She provided real estate development and community engagement leadership in connecting the University with developers, local, state, and federal agencies, community-based organizations, and neighborhood stakeholders. As a result, she has an extensive knowledge base in:
• Neighborhood revitalization with diverse socio-economic populations.
• Executive-level decision-making centered on policy and budget management. • Project Management.
• Data and research analyses.
• Organizational Visioning, Strategizing, and Facilitation
• Historic preservation in BIPOC communities.
Dr. Hilliard is actively involved in diverse social and professional organizations. She serves as a mayoral appointee on the City of Jackson – Historic Preservation Commission. Past appointments are Advisory Board Member for the Mississippi State University - Jackson Community Design Center, Chair - Board of Trustees for Mississippi First, Chair of the Mississippi African American Historic Preservation Council., Board Member - Women’s Foundation of Mississippi; Board Member – Midtown Partners; Board Member - JSU Women’s Council of Philanthropy, Member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society; and Preservation Fellow for the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
She is the founder of the public forum - Town and Coffee®, formerly considered for a New Orleans cable television show. In addition, her master’s thesis, The New Orleans Craftsman: An Endangered Species – A Case Study to preserve the Building Arts, was used as one of the primary resources for the 2003 Special Exhibit –Raised to the Trade: Creole Building Arts of New Orleans at the New Orleans Museum of Art.
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