Global Cleveland Board of Directors

Executive Committee

Oren Baratz, Senior Vice President of External Affairs, The Jewish Federation of Cleveland, Policy Committee

Ed Bell, President & Senior Managing Director, Wealth Management, Gries Financial, LLC, Development Committee

David Fleshler, Vice Provost for International Affairs, Case Western Reserve University, Chairman of the Board

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

Valarie McCall, Chief of Government & International Affairs, City of Cleveland, Governance Committee

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

Albert Ratner, Partner, RMS Investment Corporation, Co-Chairman Emeritus

Fareed Siddiq, Managing Director, Wealth management Advisor, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., Service Committee

Board of Directors

Lisa Blanchard, People Systems and Analytics Lead, Rapid Response Monitoring

Abby Bruell, Director, U.S Committee for Refugees and Immigrants

Ted Carter, Chief Economic Development and Business Officer, Cuyahoga County, Ohio

Patrick Espinosa, Attorney at Law, Lorenzon Law LLC

Hiroyuki Fujita, Founder & CEO, Quality Electrodynamics

Mari Galindo, People Operations and Culture, Executive, Margaret Wong & Associates Co., LPA

William Gary, Executive Vice President, Workforce and Economic Development Division, Cuyahoga Community College

Colin Jennings, Partner, Squire Patton Boggs, LLP

Sanjiv Kapur, Partner, Jones Day

Ryan Kozak, Senior Managing Director of Government and Nonprofit Finance, Huntington Bank

David Leopold, Partner/Group Leader, Immigration, Ulmer & Berne

Joe Lopez, Managing Member, TruBloc

Joe Marinucci, President and CEO, Downtown Cleveland Alliance

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

Girish Rao, Director of Information Solutions, Lubrizol

Radhika Reddy, Partner, Ariel International Center, LLC

Ronn Richard, President & CEO, Cleveland Foundation

Robert Rosing, President & CEO, Dwellworks, LLC

Chad Salahshour, President & CEO, 911 Cellular Ltd.

Baju Shah, Senior Fellow for Innovation, Cleveland Foundation

Thomas Snowberger, Chief Human Resources Officer, University Hospitals

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

Daniel Walsh, Chief Executive officer, Citymark Capital, LLC

Megan Wilson, Chief of Staff, Cleveland Foundation

Margaret Wong, President & Managing Partner, Margaret Wong & Associates Co., LPA

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

Nizar Zein, Chairman and Medical Director of Global Patient Services, Cleveland Clinic International

Global Cleveland Staff

Joe Cimperman - Global Cleveland

Joe Cimperman

President

Prior to joining Global Cleveland as its top executive, Joe Cimperman served 18 years on Cleveland City Council, where he distinguished himself as a champion of the diverse peoples and cultures of Greater Cleveland.  Joe, an immigrant’s son, grew up in a Slovenian-speaking household on East 74th Street in the St. Clair-Superior neighborhood of Cleveland. He graduated from St. Ignatius High School and John Carroll University, where he was elected president of the student body. In 1997, he began the first of seven terms on Cleveland City Council. His diverse ward included the businesses and corporate offices of downtown as well as the cultures of Asiatown, Tremont, Ohio City, and the old neighborhood. Joe, a German Marshall Fellow, assumed the leadership of Global Cleveland in April of 2016. He and his wife, Nora, live in Ohio City with their two young children.

Contact Information:

  • Email: joe@globalcleveland.org
  • Twitter: @joecimperman
  • LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/joe-cimperman-33438912

Nancy Janis

Vice President & COO

Most recently, Nancy served as Executive Director for the American Red Cross for the Summit/Portage/Medina counties chapter. Prior to joining Global Cleveland, Nancy worked with the Investor Members with the Greater Cleveland Partnership. Nancy’s career includes; the Cleveland Clinic Education Institute where she was responsible for fundraising and grant writing.

Nancy’s extensive leadership experience and business development have served her well and prepared her for her new role with Global Cleveland.

In 1997 Nancy owned and operated two Ident-A-Kid Services of America franchises that serviced all of Cuyahoga County successfully for more than 17 years. Nancy serves as a volunteer with the American Red Cross and Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank. Her hobbies include travel, hiking, skiing, and everything Cleveland.

Contact Information:

  • Email: nancy@globalcleveland.org

Michelle Carver

Director of Development

Michelle is a development, communications and engagement professional with more than 20 years experience in the nonprofit sector raising funding and awareness. Prior to joining Global Cleveland, Michelle worked with City Year Cleveland leading development and marketing. Michelle also enjoyed a long career with United Way of Greater Cleveland in corporate sponsorship and partnership, event marketing and management and donor relations. Her extensive background includes successfully launching new partnerships, fundraising events and stakeholder initiatives. Her hobbies include reading, traveling and going on adventures with her son.

Contact Information:

  • Email: michelle@globalcleveland.org

Supriya Tamang

Global Research Associate

Supriya oversees all professional connection services that connect professional connection volunteer(s) with an international job seeker (immigrant, refugee, and/or international student) based on similar professional backgrounds and interests. As a Global Research Associate, Supriya works closely with the Vice President and COO to ensure that international job seekers are well aware of the services that the organization provides and its contribution to the economic development of the Greater Cleveland.

Supriya is a graduate of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Science at Cleveland State University, where she obtained a Master of Arts in Global Interactions, International Relations track. She is pursuing another graduate degree, Master of Science in Urban Studies, Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University.

Contact Information:

  • Email: supriya@globalcleveland.org

Elizabeth Cusma

Program Manager

As Program Manager Elizabeth Cusma oversees much of the organization’s outreach, community development, and public policy work.  She is a Northeast Ohio native with a master’s degree in Migration Studies at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona and a bachelor’s in Arabic Language and Culture from the Ohio State University. Elizabeth has experience in immigration law, migration policy, the Middle East, and North African regions, and speaks Spanish. She resides in Cleveland Heights with her husband, their two sons and three cats.

Contact Information:

  • Email: elizabeth@globalcleveland.org

Jenika Gonzales

Graphic Designer & Marketing Manager

Jenika combines her design experiences and collaborates with the team in a variety of tasks to help solve creative problems and enhance the organization’s overall brand. Her previous work included in-house design for a restaurant group and was responsible for their social media management, package design, and marketing. In 2008, She attended the Cleveland Institute of Art for her Foundation Year and later received her Associate’s Degree at Cuyahoga Community College. Jenika enjoys Cleveland’s food scene and cooking Filipino food, as well as learning different types of cuisine.

Contact Information:

  • Email: jenika@globalcleveland.org