Global Cleveland Board of Directors

Executive Committee

Mr. Joe Marinucci, Volunteer/Former President and CEO, Downtown Cleveland Alliance | Chairman of the Board

Mr. Ed Bell, President & Senior Managing Director, Wealth Management, Gries Financial, LLC | Development Committee Chairman

Mayor Annette Blackwell, Mayor, Maple Heights | Policy Committee Co-Chair

Mr. Matt Carroll, Chief Economic Growth and Opportunity Officer, Cuyahoga County | Policy Committee Co-Chair

Mr. Jim Cavoli, President and COO, Swagelok | Vice Chairman

Mr. William Gary, Executive Vice President, Workforce and Economic Development Division, Cuyahoga Community College | Workforce Committee Chair

Mr. Keith Libman, Partner, Bober, Marker, Fedorovich & Co. | Finance Committee Chairman

Mr. Albert Ratner, Partner, RMS Investment Corporation

Judge Dan Polster, Federal Judge, US District Court of the Northern District of Ohio | Finance Committee

Ms. Megan Wilson, Chief of Staff, Cleveland Foundation | Governance Committee Chair

Board of Directors

Mayor Annette Blackwell, Mayor, Maple Heights | Policy Committee Co-Chair

Ms. Erin Brown | Attorney at Law, Brown Immigration

Mr. Matt Carroll, Chief Economic Growth and Opportunity Officer, Cuyahoga County | Policy Committee Co-Chair

Mr. Jim Cavoli, President and COO, Swagelok | Development Committee Vice Chairman

Mr. Patrick Espinosa, Managing Partner, Sus Abogados Latinos

Mr. David Fleshler, Vice Provost for International Affairs, Case Western Reserve University

Dr.Hiroyuki Fujita, Founder & CEO, Quality Electrodynamics

Dr. John Holcomb, Interim Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Interim Dean, College of Graduate Studies

Mr. Colin Jennings, Partner, Squire Patton Boggs, LLP

Mr. Sanjiv Kapur, Partner, Jones Day

Ms. Margarita S. Krncevic, Of Counsel, Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP | Policy Committee

Mr. Ryan Kozak, Senior Managing Director of Government and Nonprofit Finance, Huntington Bank | Policy Committee

Ms. Abbie Levin | Senior Vice President of Operations, Jewish Federation of Cleveland

Ms. Claudia O’Brien, Chief Operations Officer, O’Brien Construction

Chief Ryan Puente, Chief Government Affairs Officer, City of Cleveland

Mr. Girish Rao, Director of Information Solutions, Lubrizol | Governance Committee

Ms. Radhika Reddy, Partner, Ariel International Center, LLC | Policy Committee

Mr. Robert Rosing, President & CEO, Dwellworks, LLC

Mr. Chad Salahshour, President & CEO, 911 Cellular Ltd.

Mr. Baiju Shah, President & CEO, Greater Cleveland Partnership

Mr. Kevin Smith, Associate Dean, External Relations for Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School | Governance Committee & Policy Committee

Dr. Mahesha Srinivasan, Professor in the Department of Management and Executive Director for Global Engagement at the College of Business, The University of Akron, Ohio

Dr. Airica Steed, Chief Executive Officer and President for The MetroHealth System

Mr. Norman Steiner, Vice President of Business Development, Medical Mutual of Ohio

Mr. Daniel Walsh, Chief Executive officer, Citymark Capital, LLC

Mr. Clifton R. S. Williams, III, Director of Public Affairs, Taft

Ms. Megan Wilson, Chief of Staff, Cleveland Foundation | Governance Committee

Ms. Sheila Wright, Executive Vice President, Policy Advisor to Albert Ratner, The Good Community Foundation


Global Cleveland Staff

Contact Information

Global Cleveland

Email: [email protected]


Joe CimpermanPresident & CEO

Joe Cimperman has served as the President & CEO of Global Cleveland since 2016. As an immigrant’s son, he grew up in a Slovenian-speaking home on East 74th Street in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood of Cleveland. Cimperman is a German Marshall Fellow and is dedicated to growing our region’s economy by providing resources and opportunities to immigrant communities that benefit all of Northeast Ohio. He is a constant champion for organizations in Cuyahoga County serving our international community by advocating for financial, civic, and community support for immigrants settling in Northeast Ohio. Some of the many awards Cimperman and Global Cleveland have received over the years include the Temple Emanu El Tikkun Ha’Olam Award, LEDI International Life-Changer award, the Morton L. Mandel Leadership In Community Development award, Crains’ Cleveland Business Power 150 list, the 2023 Charles Eisenman Award for exceptional civic contributions, the Rotary Club of Cleveland’s International Service Award, and the Greater Cleveland Partnerships 2022 Best in Class and Hall of Fame awards for Board Diversity. He was integral in launching Ohio’s only Global Entrepreneur in Resident Program, which helps foreign-born entrepreneurs develop their companies and create jobs, right here at home.Cimperman sits on the boards of the Maltz Museum Board of Trustees, Joseph House, Computers Assisting People, and BorderLight International Theatre and Fringe Festival. Since 2016, Global Cleveland has aided in the naturalization of thousands of new Americans and elevated the conversation around incorporating immigrants into our workforce. Cimperman and Global Cleveland have helped make the invisible of our community visible with their programing, such as Global Rising, Sister Cities, Welcoming Week, Global Employer Summit, and many more. Joe Cimperman lives by the idea and ideal that we strengthen our city by welcoming our world.