
FELLOW
DERWIN SISNETT
DIRECTORY | FELLOW PROFILE

DERWIN SISNETT
TITLE
Partner
ORGANIZATION
Maslow Development Inc.
BIOGRAPHY
Derwin has spent the last fifteen years in real estate impact investing, community development, and public education with a particular focus on coalescing and maximizing community assets. He is a co-founder of Maslow Development Inc., a real estate & community development firm that advises, designs, and develops mixed-use communities anchored by high-quality schools. Prior to Maslow, Derwin co-founded and served as the CEO of Gestalt Community Schools, a charter management organization that develops high-quality, community-based charter schools in Memphis, Tennessee. Honored by the White House and the U.S. Department of Education, GCS grew into one of the highest-performing networks of schools in Tennessee, anchoring over 40 acres of a mixed-use development that Derwin spearheaded, including a performing arts center and affordable housing. Derwin’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including Urban Land Institute’s Urban Land Magazine, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. Derwin has held board seats at healthcare, foundation, education, and arts-based companies, including the developer of Crosstown Concourse, a 1,500,000 sq. ft. adaptive reuse of a historic Sears distribution center. In 2015, Derwin became the youngest person to chair the board of Memphis Light, Gas and Water, the nation’s largest 3-tier public utility. In 2019, he joined the inaugural board of the governor-appointed Tennessee Public Charter School Commission. Derwin earned his BA in Psychology from Emory University, an MFA in Creative Writing from Hollins University, a PhD in Educational Psychology from the University of Memphis, and he is a Harvard University Graduate School of Design alumnus, where he was a Loeb Fellow. Derwin is also a Broad Fellow and a Fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, where he was selected as a Braddock Scholar.