MEET THE TEAM
New Project.
Same Leadership.
We leverage decades of real estate development and investment experience, coupled with a long and successful track record of convening strategic partners to advance community-centered, ecosystem-based impact projects.
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder
Derwin Sisnett
Meet the founder and CEO of Adaptive Commons, a real estate development and investment firm that adapts public spaces for public good. Prior to Adaptive Commons, Derwin co-founded and co-led Maslow Development Inc., a real estate & community development firm that advises, designs, and develops mixed-use communities anchored by high-quality schools.
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.
In partnership with the Menkiti Group, Derwin also co-founded Grove Social Impact Partner’s Obsidian Catalyst Fund, a real estate investment vehicle that aims to drive neighborhood-level social impact by capitalizing a new category of Black real estate developers. 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. He has also lectured at various colleges and universities, including Harvard Graduate School of Design, Yale School of Management, and Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, where he is a Faculty Lecturer in Real Estate Development + Design.
Derwin has held private, mayoral- and gubernatorial-appointed board seats at healthcare, foundation, education, and arts-based companies, including Collage Dance Collective, one of the largest Black-led performing arts organizations in the American South, and 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.
Derwin holds a bachelor’s degree from Emory University, a PhD from the University of Memphis, and he is an alumnus of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, where he was a Loeb Fellow. Derwin is also an Echoing Green Fellow and a Pahara Fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, where he was selected as a Braddock Scholar.
Senior Advisor & Co-Founder
Margaret M. Towle
Throughout her career, Dr. Towle has functioned in a variety of asset management roles. She is a Senior Advisor to Adaptive Commons, a real estate development and investment firm that adapts public spaces for public good.
In addition, she was a member of BAMLʼs Global Institutional Consulting Group (“GIC”), providing consulting services to institutional clients.
Dr. Towle received the Investments & Wealth Institute “Investment Consulting Impact Award.” In addition, she was recognized as one of the “Top 50 Women in Wealth Management” and was selected as a delegate to the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship in Oxford, England. The Kauffman Foundation selected Dr. Towle to attend the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership as a Kaufman Fellow. She was also the recipient of IMCAʼs Stephen L. Kessler Writing Award.
She has published in the areas of finance and economics, including the book, Masters of Finance and Economics: Interviews with Some of the Greatest Minds in Investing and Economics.” She frequently speaks at industry events and has appeared on FinTech TV, CNBC and Bloomberg Financial.
Dr. Towle earned BA, MA, and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Washington-Seattle, with emphasis on political economy and public finance. She attended the Oxford Impact Investment Programme, Wharton Social Finance Gender-Lens Investing Program, and completed the Executive Education Program in Risk Management at the University of Chicago. Dr. Towle completed post-graduate studies in quantitative methods at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
Partner & Head of Capital Strategy
Michael McGregor
Mike is a finance and education leader with expertise spanning capital markets, real estate, school programming, and public policy. He is the Founder and Managing Partner of Children First Capital Advisors which delivers strategic capital advisory, finance, data, and capacity-building support across the social sector.
Prior to CFC, he was the COO and fiscal officer at Equitable Facilities Fund, where he raised $250M philanthropy and grants, supported $1B charter school bond issuances, and spearheaded the launch of public-private partnership funds in TX, NV, AR, and MO.
Mike is also a residential real estate developer and was previously the COO of a network of charter schools. He earned an MBA from Columbia University, a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, and is an SEC-registered Municipal Advisor.
Portfolio Manager
Reily Gibson
Reily oversees investment management, portfolio strategy, and financial analysis to advance the organization's mission of transforming public assets into sustainable workforce housing. She brings expertise in master planning and fund strategy to design and execute capital deployment that creates low-carbon, community-centered housing solutions for educators and essential workers.
Her career spans design, finance, and community development. She worked as an Architectural Designer at Prospect Studio in Jackson, WY, where she was involved in diverse projects from hospitality development to master planning initiatives. Prior to that, she was a designer at two studios in in Los Angeles, CA–büttnerreisdias and Fleetwood Fernandez–developing expertise in architectural design, 3D modeling, project management, and construction administration.
In addition to her work at Adaptive Commons, Reily is the Co-Founder and CFO of Architecture + Advocacy, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that combines interdisciplinary design-build workshops with community engagement to drive social impact. Through this work, she leads financial strategy and organizational development, bridging the worlds of architecture, finance, and community organizing.
Reily’s diverse background reflects a commitment to leveraging design, finance, and community development to create equitable and sustainable neighborhoods. She holds bachelor’s degree in economics from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Real Estate Development + Design from UC Berkeley where she focused on sustainable development practice and low-carbon construction. She has also contributed to urban research and policy work as an Urban Research Assistant at Urbanismo Vivo in Buenos Aires and as a Research Intern with NASA's VALUABLES Consortium at Resources for the Future.
From sketching ideas for adaptive reuse to managing Adaptive Commons’ portfolio and mobilizing capital for public good, she brings a unique perspective that connects investment strategy with meaningful community impact.