Summer of Purpose: Yoshmar Pinal-Alfaro

Our #SummerOfPurpose blog series follows this year’s Cleveland Foundation Summer Interns as they reflect on 11 weeks spent working with Cleveland-area nonprofit and public sector organizations. In today’s blog, we hear from Yoshmar Pinal-Alfaro, who spent his summer at Hebrew Free Loan Association (HFLA) of Northeast Ohio, where he...

Get to know Old Brooklyn with Jeff Verespej

Jeff Verespej, former executive director of the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation, gives us a tour of neighborhood treasures in this guest blog.   If you were born in Old Brooklyn like I was, or visiting for the first time, the highlight reel is well known. The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is the No. 1 tourism destination...

#SummerOfPurpose: Lauren Vitas

Our #SummerOfPurpose blog series follows this year’s Cleveland Foundation Summer Interns as they spend 11 weeks working with Cleveland-area nonprofit and public sector organizations. In today’s blog we hear from Lauren Vitas, who is spending her summer working at PRE4CLE, where she is helping to plan events and support social media...

2022 African American Philanthropy Summit: Meet the Co-chairs

Every two years, the Cleveland Foundation African American Philanthropy Committee convenes its philanthropy summit to raise the visibility of Black philanthropy and honor Black philanthropists. We sat down with committee co-chairs Ellen Burts-Cooper, Ph.D., chief improvement officer and senior managing partner, Improve Consulting and...

Summer of Purpose: Jaya Patten

Our #SummerOfPurpose blog series follows this year’s Cleveland Foundation Summer Interns as they reflect on 11 weeks spent working with Cleveland-area nonprofit and public sector organizations. In today’s blog, we hear from Jaya Patten, who spent her summer at Equality Ohio, where assisted with education and advocacy initiatives...

Celebrating Black Philanthropy: A Conversation with Anthony Price

August is Black Philanthropy Month. As we celebrate this month, we’re sharing stories that honor and celebrate Black philanthropy and philanthropists. Anthony Price On April 30, the African American Philanthropy Committee of the Cleveland Foundation hosted its biennial African American Philanthropy Summit, focused this year on...

Summer of Purpose: Kerrigan Ponsart

Our #SummerOfPurpose blog series follows this year’s Cleveland Foundation Summer Interns as they reflect on 11 weeks spent working with Cleveland-area nonprofit and public sector organizations. In today’s blog, we hear from Kerrigan Ponsart, who spent her summer at May Dugan Center, where she worked with their food distribution...

Summer of Purpose: Josie Vano

Our #SummerOfPurpose blog series follows this year’s Cleveland Foundation Summer Interns as they reflect on 11 weeks spent working with Cleveland-area nonprofit and public sector organizations. In today’s blog, we hear from Josie Vano, who spent her summer at the Jarvis Gibson Foundation, where she helped to plan fundraising events...

Summer of Purpose: Maddie Schwartz

Our #SummerOfPurpose blog series follows this year’s Cleveland Foundation Summer Interns as they reflect on 11 weeks spent working with Cleveland-area nonprofit and public sector organizations. In today’s blog, we hear from Maddie Schwartz, who spent her summer at FRONT International: Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art, where...

Story of Giving: Meltrice Sharp and LaRese Purnell of CLE Consulting Firm

When financial consultants Meltrice Sharp and LaRese Purnell kept crossing paths after launching parallel firms, they knew they had to talk. It only took one business dinner for the pair to discover they had more than potential clients in common. “Our visions were the same: we wanted to change the financial trajectory of our...