CHARLES C. WILKES
Chairman
Charles C. (Sandy) Wilkes is Chairman of The Wilkes Company. He founded the company after practicing land use and zoning law in Washington, DC.
Mr. Wilkes is Chairman of the Washington Children's Foundation, Chairman of The National Theatre, a Trustee of the Federal City Council and member of its Leadership Council. He serves as Chairman of the DC Policy Center, and was a founding member of The Developer Roundtable. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, and was a founding Director of the Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District. He was a founding Director and Vice Chairman of the NoMa Business Improvement District and Chairman of the NoMa Parks Foundation. Appointed by Governor Parris Glendening, Mr. Wilkes served as a member of the Board of Trustees of St. Mary’s College of Maryland. He is a member of the James Madison Council at The Library of Congress.
While attending law school in the evenings, Mr. Wilkes served as Legislative Assistant to the District of Columbia City Council and subsequently as Staff Director of the City Council Special Advisory Commission on Industrial and Commercial Development. This blue ribbon commission established the first blueprint for economic development in Washington, DC and recommended the creation of the city’s Office of Business and Economic Development. Mr. Wilkes has been a guest lecturer at several Washington, DC universities on land use, planning and development issues.
Mr. Wilkes received the Citizenship Award from Mount Carmel Baptist Church, the President’s Award from Family and Child Services of Washington, DC, the NoMa Business Improvement District’s Private Stakeholder Award, and the Community Service Award from the Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District. He was appointed to the DC Affordable Housing Preservation Strike Force by Mayor Muriel Bowser and serves as Vice Chairman of the Ward 7 Economic Development Advisory Council. In 2023, he received the DC Building Industry Association's Community Impact/Neighborhood Vision Award and the Cherishing Childhood Award from Safe Shores.
Mr. Wilkes is a graduate of Georgetown Preparatory School; Amherst College, where he served as Chairman of the Mead Art Museum Advisory Board; and the Washington College of Law at American University. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar. His wife, Helen, is a registered historic preservation architect in private practice. They have three daughters.
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