Charles Higueras, FAIA, joined the S.H. Cowell Foundation board in 2015.  He is the acting Director of the Project Management Bureau at the San Francisco Department of Public Works. In this role he is responsible for oversight and direction of major capital projects for a variety of city departments including those funded by the Public Health and Safety Bond of 2016 and the Earthquake Safety and Emergency Response Bonds of 2010, 2014 and 2020. Among the projects Charles has guided to completion are a new police headquarters in Mission Bay, three new fire stations, a new Medical Examiner facility, a new police crime lab and a new fireboat station on the Embarcadero. Before joining the City in 2008, he had a 26 year career as an architect in private practice focused on educational projects for school and community college districts around northern California.

Mr. Higueras is currently the chair of the Center for Architecture and Design in San Francisco. He has served on various boards including the Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, the Urban Libraries Council in Chicago, and the St. Mary’s Medical Center Foundation in San Francisco. He was appointed by Mayor Willie L. Brown in 1996 to the  San Francisco Public Library Commissioner and served for 12 years, 9 as chair of commission.

Mr. Higueras was born and raised in San Francisco and continues to live there with his wife Nuria.  He is a proud alumnus of  the University of California, Berkeley with an undergraduate and graduate degree in Architecture.