Crain's Cleveland Business, August 28, 2023

A CREATIVE ECONOMY

While the pandemic hurt the arts and artists, those struggles have underscored how their recovery and continued growth remain vital to Northeast Ohio’s economy. PAGE 18

MRI Software recommits to Solon headquarters

By Michelle Jarboe

A year ago, MRI Software wasn’t sure about the future of o ce space.

e real estate technology company, based in Solon, faced a looming lease expiration at its 100,000-square-foot headquarters. Executives considered relocating or downsizing in place.

In July, though, MRI opted to stay put,

Swagelok working to make tomorrow’s makers

renewing a long-term lease on the entire building as a new landlord stepped in. e deal bucks the trend of tech rms dumping o ce space — and runs counter to a lot of the corporate real estate pruning that’s occurring across the region.

“First things rst, we’re in the real estate business,” said Susan Avelluto, the

See SOLON on Page 29

By Dan Shingler

Swagelok has changed. That’s not something anyone who knows the company would say lightly. The Solon manufacturer of highly engineered fittings and advanced metal components, for everyone from NASA to Intel, has long prided itself on not changing.

Sure, Swagelok is packed with hightech equipment, but it’s always been known for stubbornly sticking to its core values, such as maintaining two-way loyalty with its associates, providing them everything they need to succeed and advance and, crucially, never letting people go because of a downturn in business.

See SWAGELOK on Page 31

Crain’s 45 Notable Latino leaders foster understanding of Hispanic and Latino culture and promote efforts that recognize the community’s skills and abilities. PAGE 8

Babylon Asset Management looks to capitalize on private credit buzz

As banks tighten the screws on lending standards, there may be an unprecedented opportunity for private credit funds to ll a need in the market, and Hanna Kassis doesn’t want to miss the boat.

“When money gets tight in the economy, banks stop lending. But that means money gets looser in the alternative world,” Kassis said. “So it is busier than ever right now. ere is just so much demand for capital.”

Of course, banks never stop lending entirely. But access to traditional credit streams in the banking system is becoming increasingly restricted in the current environment, which tends to happen during periods of rising interest rates and economic uncertainty.

According to the latest research from the Federal Reserve, banks are actively tightening lending across a spectrum of loan categories — including commercial and industrial as well as commercial and residential real estate — while simultaneously shoring up capital reserves.

Amid these dynamics and the collapse of institutions like Silicon Valley Bank earlier this year, behemoth asset managers like Blackstone are touting a “golden moment” for the private credit industry, which some rms suspect may be poised for a multitrillion-dollar boom.

at’s why, for Kassis, there may be no better time to raise $5 million for his Babylon Asset

ICP sells Cleveland plant for $11.6M

By Stan Bullard

ARCTRUST, a Clifton, New Jersey-based real estate company, just shelled out $11.6 million to buy the building at 7000 Denison Ave. in Cleveland, occupied by sustainable packager Greenbridge, from Industrial Commercial Properties.

Robert Ambrosi, ARCTRUST’s chairman, said the company likes the business model of Mentor-based Greenbridge as well as features of the building. Most of all, he said, he believes the Cleveland market is underserved compared with higher-pro le industrial markets outside the Midwest.

His company is so excited about investing in the region that he said it’s preparing to buy another

Management, a private credit fund that he quietly launched last year.

While Babylon is a little more than a year old, this isn’t exactly new territory for Kassis, a local attorney, CPA and entrepreneur who previously founded and operated Oarex Capital Markets Inc., an online ad revenue exchange where digital media companies can swap invoices for capital — it’s essentially factoring, in which a business sells its accounts receivable to a third party, often at a discount.

He sold the bulk of his equity in that business in 2022 — he declined to say for how much — to some retired Goldman Sachs partners, though he retained a minority stake.

Besides acquiring the Whistle & Keg, a pour-your-own concept bar in downtown Cleveland, Kassis used proceeds of the Oarex sale to participate in a variety of private nancing deals as a syndicate investor under the Babylon banner.

Since June 2022, he has deployed more than $440,000 of his own capital across more than 100 investments, mostly merchant advances for small businesses and some senior/secured loans. Some of the sectors those investments have gone toward include retail, services, health care and manufacturing.

e pro le of companies he’s been involved with is seemingly one of relatively strong businesses that fall just outside the parameters banks will serve. On average, Kassis said, Babylon’s investments have been channeled toward

companies with nearly 10 years in business, about 17 employees and with credit scores of about 650.

“ e businesses I’m targeting are those that got denied for funding by their bank of 20 years, who are being turned down now because of these tighter lending standards,” Kassis said.

In Northeast Ohio there is a dearth of capital available for these smaller, relatively established businesses, Kassis argues. While there are several private funds in the market, they are primarily in the private-equity or venture capital spaces and not focused on the customer pro le Kassis has in mind: players in the smallest end of the lower-middle-market spectrum with an immediate need for capital.

“ ere really is no one lling the gap in private credit in Northeast Ohio, which is why I’m focused on Northeast Ohio and Ohio in general,” he said.

e average loan Babylon has participated in so far is around $175,000, though Kassis said he’d consider opportunities as small as $50,000 and as much as $2 million.

“Something I’m seeing as a top use of working capital is someone who has an entire machine built, beginning to end, but they literally don’t have the money to invest in cost of goods sold, and they just need to buy more product,” Kassis said. “ at is the No. 1 use case right now. None of the businesses I talk to want to expand or acquire.

ey just need working capital.”

Kassis’ personal syndicate includes a half-dozen investing partners so far, but he’s working to

grow that network. He’s also in the process of hiring a chief nancial o cer.

e opportunities are certainly out there.

“ ere are businesses that need cash and need it quickly that Babylon is going to suit a need for,” said one Greater Cleveland bank lender familiar with Kassis’ endeavor.

Phil Cohen, president of Cleveland sister companies and alternative lenders Factor Finders and PRN Funding — the latter has a niche focus on health care services — feels similarly.

“We’re seeing more prospects who would be very good entry-level banking clients coming to us,” Cohen said. “What we have seen in the last 60 to 90 days in our world is what I call up-market leads, which would’ve been bankable a year ago and aren’t now.”

Cohen is familiar with Kassis’ past endeavors but is not currently involved with Babylon.

e private funding space is certainly not without risks. While many asset managers are bullish on the industry, a “few voices are warning that it may all get ugly very soon,” a Bloomberg News story said in early June.

Credit analysis for a fund like Babylon’s must be very thorough, Cohen cautioned. at means making sure that a seemingly good prospect that couldn’t get bank credit is just falling through the gaps of super-conservative lending standards and not dealing with other issues.

Ultimately, though, what Babylon aims to do “makes a ton of

sense,” Cohen said, because there are going to be higher credit quality opportunities out there as banks make tough calls on which credit-seeking customers to pass over. That’s going to occur more in times like these versus periods when banks are more open and aggressive on the lending front.

at’s basically the strategy behind Babylon and these other private credit funds in a nutshell.

“I think I could grow this thing to a signi cant size in terms of assets under management as well as deal volume,” Kassis said. “I want to be the one-stop shop for private credit and capital in Ohio.”

Northeast Ohio industrial building, one of 300,000 square feet that it just put under contract. He declined to identify the building before the transaction closes.

“ ere is a lot of upside as more manufacturing onboards to the U.S. and the expansion of e-commerce,” Ambrosi said. “It’s a good location for travel, and the (industrial) rents relative to the rest of the U.S. are reasonable.”

ARCTRUST owns 500 properties and specializes in those fully

leased by their occupants in the industrial and retail categories, as well as apartments. It’s also involved in the self-storage business. The firm operates as a private real estate investment trust, which gives extra tax benefits to its investors.

Austin Semarjian, ICP executive vice president, said the rm decided to sell the property to keep moving its business forward.

“We made a signi cant capital investment there,” Semarjian said.

“We were able to land a high-quality manufacturing company. We love doing deals in our hometown and bringing life and jobs to worndown assets.”

Semarjian declined to comment on the sale price. e deal closed Aug. 16, according to online Cuyahoga County land records.

Greenbridge began operations at the building this spring after signing a long-term lease for it. It established executive offices, warehouse space and four pro -

duction lines in the property. It retains its headquarters in Mentor and has another operation in Green.

ICP bought the empty, 145,000-square-foot building in late 2021 for $2.2 million. It was previously operated by a unit of Park-Ohio Holdings Corp. until 2009 and dates from 1967.

ICP’s portfolio includes more than 45 million square feet of industrial and mixed-use developments.

ARCTRUST, a private REIT based in Clifton, New Jersey, is the new owner of the building at 7000 Denison Ave. in Cleveland. | CONTRIBUTED

Jeremy Nobile

“There really is no one lling the gap in private credit in Northeast Ohio, which is why I’m focused on Northeast Ohio and Ohio in general.”

Hanna Kassis, Babylon Asset Management founder

DON’T LET SUMMER SET ON

Budget breakdown

FBS

BIG TEN

Ohio State

◗ Total athletic department

revenue/national rank:

$251,615,345, 1st

◗ Total athletic department expenses: $225,733,418

◗ Football budget: $69,127,911

◗ Football coach/salary:

Ryan Day, $8.8 million

◗ Assistant coach salary pool: $8,833,000

BIG BUCKS

By Joe Scalzo

On Sept. 9, the Youngstown State University (YSU) football team will play Ohio State in what some sports writers will call a matchup of David vs. Goliath.

In college football terms, it’s more like Scrooge McDuck vs. Oliver Twist.

Or if Goliath had King Solomon’s bank account.

Consider this: Ryan Day’s annual salary is $8.8 million, or more than double YSU’s entire annual football budget ($4,230,772). at buys a lot of slingshot protection.

But hey, the Penguins will pick up an $800,000 check for a day’s work. It takes Day a whole month to earn that.

What immediately becomes clear is that Ohio State is in a different nancial stratosphere than every school but Cincinnati, which leveraged its football success under Luke Fickell to nagle a Big 12 invitation. at gap will only grow over the next decade, as the Big Ten’s new seven-year TV deal kicks in and provides its members between $70 million and $80 million per year.

By contrast, the Mid-American Conference (MAC) — which has ve Ohio schools, including Akron and Kent — inked a 13-year, $100 million deal with ESPN in 2014 that makes the network the exclusive broadcaster of sports including football and men’s and women’s basketball. at money doesn’t go far in a 12-team league.

“You’re talking about massive disparities in resources,” said Matthew Juravich, an associate professor of management and the director of sports business and sports analytics programs at the University of Akron. “When Ohio State is making $70 million a year in media rights and distribution and MAC schools are making $2 million to $3 million, it’s not the same game.”

While the Zips do report making about $30.5 million in revenue, most of that cash comes from things like student fees and institutional support and not things like sold-out football games or massive TV deals.

Even worse, MAC schools don’t have many avenues to boost that revenue, but they also don’t have many ways to cut their expenses, even if they leave the FBS level.

“Ten, 15, 20 years from now, will there be FBS schools that decide to drop down to the FCS or maybe Division II level because they don’t want to use student fees or institutional support to supplement to the extent they do now? I think you’ll see some of that,” Juravich said.“But there’s this perception out there of, ‘Oh, we can drop down to D2 and all of our expenses will go away.’

“You still have to spend a lot of money to fund the operation of a football program, whether it’s at the D3 level or the D2 level or the FCS level,” Juravich said. “So it’s not like all those expenses would just magically disappear.”

Yes, YSU spends about half as much as Kent or Akron on football — and sports in general — but leaving the MAC and joining another conference would cost the Zips about $18 million in exit/ re-entry costs, according to a 2021 internal review headed by Juravich. Akron would lose about $5 million per year in revenue from things like guarantee games, conference revenue distribution, naming rights, sponsorships and fundraising. And it would still need to pay about $5 million to $6 million per year for Infocision Stadium.

Leaving the FBS level would also mean a signi cant drop in national stature.

e Penguins compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), whose 2022 championship game got buried on ESPN2 and whose 2023 championship game was such an afterthought that ABC put it on at noon on a Sunday against NFL games. e latter game garnered a 0.61 rating, about half the audience of that week’s ReliaQuest Bowl between Illinois State and Mississippi State. (In other words, not good.)

“If you strip away DI athletics at a lot of these big schools in Ohio and across the country, in many people’s eyes, that’s a key part of the institution’s identity,” Juravich said. “You’ve still got your distinctive academic programs, but there’s not a lot of distinction or di erentiation between a D1 school and a D3 school once you take the athletic piece away.

“So, it’s an interesting world and the discrepancies (between budgets) are not going away.”

BIG 12

Cincinnati

◗ Revenue/rank:

$83,344,028, 55th

◗ Expenses: $75,902,262

◗ Football budget: $23,711,631

◗ Football coach/salary:

Scott Satter eld, $3.4 million

◗ Assistant salaries: $3,330,000

MAC

Akron

◗ Revenue/rank:

$30,498,496, 112th

◗ Expenses: $30,290,134

◗ Football budget: $6,133,980

◗ Football coach/salary:

Joe Moorhead, $500,000

◗ Assistant salaries: $865,000

Bowling Green

◗ Revenue/rank:

$25,573,967, 130th

◗ Expenses: $25,353,769

◗ Football budget: $6,971,895

◗ Football coach/salary:

Scot Loef er, $549,438

◗ Assistant salaries: $951,389

Kent State

◗ Revenue/rank:

$28,605,618, 123rd

◗ Total expenses: $29,613,870

◗ Football budget: $7,941,829

◗ Football coach/salary:

Kenni Burns, $525,000

◗ Assistant salaries: $1,042,391

Miami

◗ Revenue/rank:

$38,076,046, 91st

◗ Total expenses: $37,880,709

◗ Football budget: $10,362,801

◗ Football coach/salary:

Chuck Martin, $560,000

◗ Assistant salaries: $1,113,101

Ohio

◗ Revenue/rank:

$29,335,290, 116th

◗ Expenses: $31,309,063

◗ Football budget: $9,272,854

◗ Football coach/salary:

Tim Albin, $546,300

◗ Assistant salaries: $1,025,494

Toledo

◗ Revenue/rank:

$35,602,789, 97th

◗ Expenses: $35,602,789

◗ Football budget: $10,960,995

◗ Football coach/salary:

Jason Candle, $1,175,300

◗ Assistant salaries: $1,066,659

FCS

Youngstown State

◗ Revenue/rank:

$17,773,160, 166th

◗ Expenses: $17,773,159

◗ Football budget: $4,230,772

◗ Football coach/salary:

Doug Phillips, $255,000

◗ Assistant salaries: Not available

There’s a wide gap between OSU’s football budget and those of Ohio’s other Division I schools — and it’s only going to grow

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lead and ease parking mandates

Dialogue around commercial and residential development in Northeast Ohio rarely includes one of the key drivers of costs: parking.

New developments are broadly expected to include parking. How much is provided, however, is usually regulated by outdated mandates that ignore a neighborhood’s context and create an undue burden on everyone, including drivers.

Lessons of summer 2023

Summer’s essentially done, and the kids are back in school or are heading there soon.

But why should they alone bene t from all the learning? Here are seven lessons we’re taking away from a busy summer in Northeast Ohio and statewide:

1. It’s infuriatingly expensive to maintain an arena — but it’s the smartest move for now.

e nonpro t Gateway Economic Development Corp. on Aug. 9 unanimously approved $24.4 million in repairs to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse for items including upgrades to the 29-year-old facility’s elevators and escalators and replacement of outdated video hardware used to broadcast games. It’s not great that we’re still stuck in a model where the public is on the hook for these expenses. Ultimately, taxpayers can’t a ord to keep up with the demand for expensive sports facilities. But for now, at least, maintaining facilities to extend their lives beats building new ones.

2. Patience is important, even when (or maybe especially when) it comes to the Browns. Speaking of maintaining vs. building, if you thought there’d be a resolution this summer on what’s next for Cleveland Browns Stadium, you haven’t paid close attention to how things go with this franchise. In this case, though, the delay is OK. Owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam have maintained that they want to renovate, not replace, the 24-year-old stadium, as part of a plan to rejuvenate the lakefront site. But it all depends on a (wait for it) public-private partnership with the city, county and state. e deal is complicated. e Browns should remain downtown, rather than heading to some new suburban facility. e lease at the existing stadium expires at the end of 2028, so there’s time to get this right.

3. Ohio might never resolve its redistricting issues. OK, “never” could be hyperbole. But maybe not. Citizens not Politicians, which is trying to strip redistricting powers from Ohio pols, has to return to square one after state Attorney General Dave Yost last week rejected language the group submitted for a proposed constitutional amendment. (He argued it wasn’t a fair and truthful summary of the 30-page proposal.) e group wants to create a 15-member citizens commission to oversee redistricting. It’s doing so because the Ohio Redistricting Commission, led by lawmakers and statewide elected o cials, was such a op. e beat goes on.

4. On some big issues, state help is invaluable. Cleveland has had a violent summer. Local o cials, starting with Mayor Justin Bibb, are taking it seriously. So is Gov. Mike DeWine, who has instructed agencies including the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the Ohio Narcotics Intelligence Center and the Ohio Department of Youth Services to work with Cleveland police and other local and federal authorities on violence-reduction efforts. “We plan to stay in Cleveland as long as local ocials need us,” DeWine said. Good.

5. Two fresh faces in Northeast Ohio will have an enormous in uence on the region’s future success. e new superintendent of the Akron Public Schools, C. Michael Robinson Jr., comes here from the East Baton Rouge Parish Schools in Louisiana, where he was chief academic o cer. Warren Morgan, the new CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, is (mostly) new to the region, too, having most recently worked as chief academic o cer for the Indianapolis Public Schools. (He did work in Cleveland from 2014 to 2016). It’s only the start of their tenures, but a lot rides on how Robinson and Morgan perform. Just as they do with students and teachers, we’ll set a high bar for them on operational excellence and innovation in thought. Northeast Ohio will be stronger if they clear it.

6. ere’s no better example of the revived power of organized labor than the ght over U.S. Steel. Cleveland-Cli s Inc. wants to buy U.S. Steel, but its o er, at about $7.3 billion, was below that of a $7.8 billion bid made subsequently by steel distributor Esmark Inc. Money matters. But so, in this case, does the support of the United Steelworkers, which wants Cli s to land U.S. Steel. So in uential is the union’s backing that Esmark on Wednesday, Aug. 23, said it was no longer pursuing a U.S. Steel purchase, citing the “history, working relationship and position” of the USW.

7. Young people looking for a professional role model would do well to emulate John Ewing.

e co-founder of the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque announced this month that he will retire as Cinematheque director e ective June 30, 2024. He and his team built one of the country’s best repertory movie theaters, showing more than 9,000 classic, foreign and independent lms over nearly 40 years. e secret to the success? ere is no secret — it’s based on hard work and intellectual rigor. No shortcuts. Like Ewing, commit to excellence in your eld, whatever it is.

e city of Cleveland recently passed “Transportation Demand Management” legislation that will update parking mandates and include mobility alternatives for projects near high-frequency transit routes. ese regulatory changes are important, and other cities across Northeast Ohio should pay attention.

Pulling back excessive parking mandates helps maintain housing a ordability, supports local businesses and improves equitable mobility for the community.

Construction of parking facilities is expensive. A surface lot can cost as much as $10,000 per space, aboveground garages about $40,000 per space and underground parking, even more. ese costs are passed on to occupants and customers.

For renters, mandated parking is estimated to increase rents by 15% and diverts resources that could otherwise be used on much-needed increases in housing supply. Arbitrary requirements also increase the di culty of building “missing middle” housing like four- or six-plexes. Prior to parking mandates, it was commonplace for small local developers to build such homes even on parcels less than an acre. To do so is difcult (or impossible) when o -street parking is required for both residents and their guests.

Higher rents resulting from mandated parking disproportionately harm households that either cannot a ord a vehicle or would rather forego the expense, which AAA now estimates at over $10,000 a year. Indeed, almost a quarter of households in Cleveland do not have access to a car. In some East Side neighborhoods, that gure is over half.

Local businesses also bear the burden of parking mandates. Like their residential counterparts, the cost to construct excess facilities increases commercial rents. ere are workarounds: If business owners know they can operate without the arbitrary amount of required parking, they can request a variance.

Jeffrey Weston Sleasman is senior director of applied research at Fund For Our Economic Future.

Communities should follow Cleveland’s

Pulling back excessive parking mandates helps maintain housing affordability, supports local businesses and improves equitable mobility for the community.

A for-sale sign stands in front of a house on Cleveland’s East Side. New listings are down 17.9% this year across Northeast Ohio, according to MLS Now, a regional real estate listing service. |

With little to buy, Northeast Ohio’s housing market stumbled in July

By Michelle Jarboe

July home sales plunged in Northeast Ohio and across the Buckeye State as scant listings and higher mortgage rates weighed on the market.

Regional sales of new and previously owned homes were o by 19.1% compared with July 2022. And purchases slipped 13% from June, according to a Crain’s analysis of data from MLS Now, a real estate listing service that tracks 18 counties.

Statewide sales, meanwhile, slid by 19.9% from July of last year. But prices continued to creep up as buyers sparred over scarce properties, the Ohio Realtors reported Aug. 22.

“ e Ohio housing market continues to face the challenges of a higher mortgage interest rate environment combined with historic low inventory levels of homes for sale,” Ralph Mantica, the statewide trade group’s president, said in a news release. “Despite these hurdles, the ongoing increase in average sales price is a clear indication that consumers understand that housing is a smart long-term investment.”

In Cuyahoga County, July sales were down 15% from a year before, based on MLS Now’s data. Last month the county had only 7.7 weeks’ worth of listings, according to real estate brokerage Red n. at’s far less than what’s needed for a balanced market, in which buyers and sellers have roughly equal power.

Across the Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor area, inventory was ever tighter, at 7.3 weeks’ worth from early July to early August. In the Akron metropolitan area, the pool of available prop-

erties was barely enough to sate buyers’ demand, at 6.5 weeks.

e chief economist for the National Association of Realtors said Aug. 22 that it will take a pullback in mortgage rates to get the market moving again. e average interest rate on a 30-year, xed-rate mortgage climbed back above 7% in mid-August.

Existing homeowners who bought or re nanced their homes a few years ago, in the era of 3% rates, have little incentive to move and take on costlier debt. And owners who are inclined to sell are nonetheless holding back, worried they won’t be able to nd anywhere else to live.

“Two factors are driving current sales activity — inventory availability and mortgage rates. Unfortunately, both have been unfavorable to buyers,” Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist, said in a news release.

$304,600, a 3.9% annual increase.

Ohio real estate groups report average prices instead of medians. e Ohio Realtors said the state’s average sale price rose 5.4% over the past year, hitting $287,695 last month.

In Northeast Ohio, the average sale price for a single-family home was $260,806 in July. That’s up 4.4% from a year before. MLS Now said condos, a sliver of the regional housing market, commanded an average price of $207,724, a 7.7% annual jump.

July’s top home sale was the nearly $3.23 million purchase of an estate in Chagrin Falls. The four-bedroom, five-bathroom home sits on a 5.4-acre property, with a large cottage on the grounds and an infinity pool, hot tub, outdoor kitchen, bocce court and putting green.

e trade group released its monthly report on existing home sales Aug. 22. Purchases were down 16.6% from July of last year. Sales receded by 2.2% from June, based on seasonally adjusted data.

In the Midwest, sales fell 20% from July 2022 and were down 3% from June.

Nationally, the median sale price was $406,700 in July, a 1.9% gain from a year before. e Midwest’s median sale price was

The cheapest sale took place in Jefferson County, where a buyer paid $6,000 for a house in the tiny village of Adena, according to MLS Now and Zillow. The listing service captures most of the residential real estate transactions in the region, though properties sold without formal marketing can slip through the cracks.

Northeast Ohio home sales trailed 2022 levels by 15.6% through July, based on MLS Now’s data. That’s a difference of more than 4,400 transactions over seven months. New listings, meanwhile, are down 17.9% this year.

MICHELLE JARBOE

Nationally, the median sale price was $406,700 in July, a 1.9% gain from a year before. The Midwest’s median sale price was $304,600, a 3.9% annual increase.

Cleveland’s burgeoning Latino community continues to grow while meeting the challenges that come to people of color. Crain’s 45 Notable Latino leaders hold positions of responsibility and leadership. They foster understanding of Hispanic and Latino culture and issues and promote efforts that recognize the community’s skills and abilities. The local Latino community is tight-knit. Immigrants support each other, and as the skills of each person are expressed, the entire community bene ts. These Notable Latino Leaders accept the challenges of leadership and inspire those who will follow them

Methodology: The honorees do not pay to be included. Their pro les were drawn from the nomination materials submitted. This list is not comprehensive. It includes only individuals for whom nominations were submitted and accepted after a review by editors. To qualify for the list, nominees must be based in Northeast Ohio and must self-identify as Hispanic or Latino. They must be employed full-time in a senior-level role and should have demonstrated that they made an impact in advancing DEI at their companies and in the workplace. They must be active in the community and/or philanthropic activities, mentoring programs and/or diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Rolando Alvarez Director of technology, DigitalC

DigitalC is intent on building equitable internet access for marginalized communities, a mission that Rolando Alvarez supports with his whole heart.

Through Alvarez’s leadership, the organization has secured investment dollars for tools and digital resources that go directly to underserved populations. For example, Alvarez and his team recently procured $15 million from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation, along with a $1 million gift from MetroHealth.

According to the nomination, Alvarez oversaw construction of a DigitalC platform that scaled the group’s network coverage to over 23,000 households.

“This ecosystem engineered by Rolando has impacted the life of thousands of Cleveland residents that now can be part of the digital economy,” the nomination said.

— Douglas J. Guth

Maria Bocanegra Chief legal of cer, Port of Cleveland

In 2022, Maria Bocanegra became the rst chief legal of cer for the Port of Cleveland.

Her key roles include managing risk as well as oversight of every legal aspect of the port’s ethics and risk and compliance matters.

“I view being the rst general counsel as a great honor and opportunity to set an example for other Latino and Latina legal professionals coming up, as well as an opportunity to elevate Latino and Latina presence in board and executive roles,” she said. Her work at the port includes managing litigation, tariffs, environmental compliance, real estate purchases, land use planning and bond nancing. She also represents the port in front of state and federal entities.

— Pat McManamon

Lou Camacho President, Stratos Wealth Enterprises

Lou Camacho is credited with expanding Stratos Wealth Enterprises’ footprint through acquisitions and organic growth. Today, the rm boasts 10 locations and $8 billion in assets under management.

In the last year, Camacho oversaw the purchase of a controlling interest in one of Mexico’s oldest and largest wealth management rms and the launch of a new division, Stratos Private Wealth, which is focused on serving high-networth clients.

With more than two decades in the eld, Camacho puts a premium on mentoring youth. Stratos has an annual internship program that hires students, including Latinos and other minorities, from the Cleveland area. As part of that work, Camacho has mentored young people, guiding them through career options in the industry.

— Timothy Magaw

Renato “Ren” Camacho President and CEO, Akron-Canton Airport

If you’ve had a good experience ying out of Akron-Canton Airport over the past ve years, you can probably thank Ren Camacho.

He has been running the regional airport since the Akron-Canton’s board of trustees unanimously appointed him CEO in 2018. That means he’s responsible for not only overall operations, but leading 60 airport professionals and directing strategic planning and all capital-improvement programs. Comacho has more than 30 years of experience in aviation and transportation engineering and has implemented over $340M of federally and locally funded projects for initiatives including: runway safety area improvements, master plans, lease negotiations with airlines, new business development initiatives and airport projects.

— Dan Shingler

Carlos Campo President, Ashland University

Carlos Campo has helped lead Ashland University's Campaign for Every Individual, raising more than $100 million; establish the Jack W. Liebert Military and Veteran Resource Center; launch new academic programs; and upgrade the campus.

Campo has been president at Ashland since 2015, though he has recently announced he will leave that role next year. He also is vice chair of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, a member of the NCAA Presidents Council and a mentor to Hispanic students through the American Mentors initiative. Campo “embodies exceptional leadership,” the nomination said.

“With his visionary approach and commitment to education, he has transformed countless lives through his innovative initiatives,” the nomination continued.

— Rachel Abbey McCafferty

Jaime Caraballo II Director, supplier relations and procurement, Dealer Tire

Jaime Caraballo II spent signi cant time the past couple of years dealing with supply chain issues.

Caraballo, a supply chain expert and analyst, oversees the management of supplier relationships with tire manufacturers and is responsible for negotiating $2 billion in annual purchases. Caraballo said his work to ease the challenge was focused on maximizing ll rates and working closely with suppliers.

Before he was named to his present position in 2011, Caraballo was director of supply chain data and analytics. He previously worked at American Greetings.

Away from work, Caraballo is a board member and student mentor at Esperanza, a local nonpro t focused on the education of the Northeast Ohio Hispanic/Latino community.

— Pat McManamon

Luis Carrion Managing partner, Renner Otto

As managing partner for intellectual property law rm Renner Otto, Luis Carrion represents clients in patent and trademark application licensing and litigation.

Carrion is the manager responsible for 1,108 intellectual property clients, from individuals to corporations, domestic and international. He joined Renner Otto in 2015 as an associate and became a partner that same year. He was elected managing partner in 2020.

His leadership was partly responsible for Renner Otto being named to Crain’s Best Employers in Ohio two years in a row.

Carrion, who guides DEI initiatives at the rm, has served on the board of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Lorain County since 2009. He also is an adjunct professor at Cleveland State University College of Law.

— Pat McManamon

Luis Cartagena President and CEO, Cartagena CPA & Consultants

Education and entrepreneurship are the watchwords for Luis Cartagena, whose consulting rm provides tax, accounting and nancial management services to individuals as well as small and midsize companies. His rm, which includes four team members, assists more than 500 tax clients.

Cartagena’s current work is informed by a previous role as an inclusion of cer for Cuyahoga County, where he focused on diversity-based outreach to vendors, stakeholders and the community at large.

Developing strong communities extends to volunteer work with several organizations, as stated in the nomination.

Cartagena acts as a trustee/ board member for Neighborhood Family Practice, the Council of Smaller Enterprises, The Land and the Borderlight Festival.

— Douglas J. Guth

Milagros Castillo Vice president of nursing, Mercy Health Lorain & Allen Hospital

As the rst Latina vice president of nursing for Mercy Health Lorain & Allen Hospital, Milagros Castillo oversees the standard of nursing practice and patient care, managing a team of about 1,100.

During the pandemic, she led the charge in helping the Latino population to overcome vaccine hesitancy by planning events at Latino churches throughout Lorain County to improve outreach to the community.

With the hospital for 17 years, she was promoted to VP of nursing in March 2022.

Castillo serves on numerous boards, including the YWCA of Elyria and the Lorain County Corrections planning board. She also led the North Star Committee Project for the hospital to foster inclusivity for Hispanic and Latino patients.

— Kristine Gill

Diana Centeno-Gómez

Chief, smart sensing and electronics systems branch, NASA Glenn Research Center

Diana Centeno-Gómez, an accomplished engineer, has worked at the NASA Glenn Research Center for nearly 30 years. Most recently, she has been responsible for the branch of NASA tasked with the research, development and demonstration of sensors, electronics and nanotechnology used in aerospace and extreme environment space applications.

In addition to excelling in the competitive and complex aerospace eld, she is also an effective recruiter and mentor for young Hispanic NASA employees.

A co-founder of LATINA Inc. (Leading and Advocating Together in New Arenas), Centeno-Gómez provides community, networking and mentoring for professional Hispanic women.

— Kim Palmer

Carmen Castro-Rivera

Assistant dean, operations and business development, Carmel Boyer School of Business, Baldwin Wallace University

Carmen Castro-Rivera leads everything from marketing to nancial aid as assistant dean of operations and business development for the Carmel Boyer School of Business.

“Carmen is an irreplaceable, key leader in our school where she actively oversees MBA marketing and recruitment, works with corporations to provide customized training and manages external professional development programs,” the nomination said.

She also is president of Esperanza Inc.’s board. Her “commitment to eliminating barriers to education and professional success shines through...” the nomination said.

— Rachel Abbey McCafferty

Jenice Contreras CEO, Northeast Ohio Hispanic Center for Economic Development

Under Jenice Contreras’ leadership, the regional Hispanic Center for Economic Development has experienced dynamic growth. The organization serves more than 1,000 Hispanic small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Contreras has been credited as a driving force behind the Hispanic Villa project — also known as CentroVilla 25 — in the heart of Cleveland’s Hispanic Community on West 25th Street and Clark Avenue. The project is an adaptive reuse of a vacant warehouse and of ce building.

It is expected to feature small retail spaces, a business innovation center, co-working spaces, a Hispanic grocery store and more. According to a study by Cleveland State University, the project is expected to create 190 jobs — 120 of which would be in Cleveland.

— Timothy Magaw

Patrick Espinosa Managing partner, Sus Abogados Latinos

As managing partner of Sus Abogados Latinos, Patrick Espinosa is at the helm of the rst Hispanic-branded law rm in Ohio.

Espinosa oversees a staff of eight — all of whom are Hispanic and bilingual. He’s “in charge of all aspects of representation and meets every client personally,” the nomination said.

At any given point, the law rm represents “several hundred clients” in Northeast Ohio and nationwide. Espinosa, according to the nomination, “hopes that Sus Abogados Latinos can be a role model for other rms to address the needs of Hispanics.”

Espinosa’s notable community ties include board positions with the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, the Northeast Ohio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Global Cleveland.

— Kevin Kleps

Jose Feliciano Jr. Manager of intergovernmental affairs, Greater Cleveland RTA

Throughout his career, Jose Feliciano Jr. has helped make connections — and not just with railcars.

Yes, he has built relationships with local, state and federal governments and played a critical role in helping the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority secure a $130 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration for railcar replacement. But he also serves on the executive committee of Latinos in Transit and as a commissioner on the state’s Hispanic/Latino Affairs Commission, where he advocates for Latinos and other minorities in transportation.

As a president emeritus of the Young Latino Network and co-founder of the Hispanic Employee Resource Group at the GRCTA, his leadership and insight will impact generations to come.

— Joe Scalzo

Jose Feliciano Sr. Chairman, The Hispanic Roundtable

The Hispanic Roundtable acts as a catalyst for the region, providing educational and economic opportunities along with a vital feeling of empowerment.

As chairman of the organization, Jose Feliciano Sr. helps lead activities including Convención Hispana, a community-wide event structured similarly to Roman and Greek forums. The convention attracts 3,000 attendees annually, setting the agenda for the community and launching organizations such as the Hispanic Business Center and the Hispanic Contractors Association.

Feliciano recently co-chaired a successful $12 million campaign for the forthcoming CentroVilla 25 project. According to the nomination, Feliciano also will receive the 2023 Cleveland Heritage Medal, given to individuals who have left an indelible mark on Cleveland.

He is a retired partner at law rm BakerHostetler.

— Douglas J. Guth

Samantha Flores Director of program and partner services, Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio

Samantha Flores focuses on feeding the needy through one of the area’s larger food banks.

Flores manages a team of ve that includes AmeriCorps VISTA positions and Emerson National Hunger Fellows. The team distributes food to communities in Crawford, Erie, Huron and Lorain counties.

During the pandemic , from March 2020 through June 2021, Flores helped ensure more than 500 mobile pantry and food box distributions served 172,000 community members, more than double pre-pandemic levels.

Flores also is a member of the Health Equity Task Force in Lorain County and was the keynote speaker for a combined Hispanic Heritage Month and LGBTQ History Month event at Ohio University.

— Pat McManamon

Jorge Garcia-Zuazaga Dermatologist, Apex Dermatology

If healthy skin equals a happy life, then Jorge GarciaZuazaga is bringing smiles to faces of underserved populations throughout Northeast Ohio.

At Apex Dermatology, Garcia-Zuazaga provides services around medical, surgical and aesthetic skin needs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he pivoted to telemedicine, developing a care plan to ensure patients received proper skin care treatment.

New satellite clinics deliver care to Latino neighborhoods — a suite of services that includes free skin cancer spot checks administered by a bilingual staff.

“Dr. Garcia is a gem in the Cleveland-area,” the nomination said. “He built a business around the needs of the community and is unwavering in his commitment to give patients the access to dermatology they deserve.”

— Douglas J. Guth

Pamela Hobe

Chief operating of cer, real estate banking

PNC Bank

Pamela Hobe leads a 44-person team that supports PNC’s commercial real estate clients. She has worked for the Pittsburgh-based lender and its local predecessor, National City Bank, for almost three decades.

On top of her managerial responsibilities, Hobe is a mentor and advocate. She helms an effort to grow PNC’s Latino employee resource group. She also sits on the board of Esperanza, a nonpro t focused on Hispanic empowerment through education.

“Pam is a con dent, energetic leader at PNC who is passionate about her heritage and uses that passion to engage Latino employees … as well as supporting the Latino community through volunteer work,” said Pat Pastore, the bank’s Cleveland regional president, in a written statement.

— Michelle Jarboe

Carlos Garritano

Intellectual Property department chair, Tucker Ellis

Firm leadership describes Carlos Garritano as a topnotch IP attorney, creative leader, relationship builder and a committed diversity advocate.

He is credited with not just driving signi cant growth of his rm’s IP practice but promoting diversity while doing it.

Twenty of 30 hires made under his leadership involved professionals from underrepresented populations.

Garritano also has built an “impressive pipeline” of young, diverse talent at the rm, according to his nomination, as chair of the rm’s IP summer associate program.

Garritano is known at his rm for promoting Latino culture. He organizes celebrations for Chile — where his mother Julia Dueñas Garritano was born — and other Spanish-speaking countries as well as fundraisers for victims of earthquakes.

— Jeremy Nobile

Magda Gomez

Executive director of diversity and inclusion, Cuyahoga Community College

Magda Gomez is a skilled DEI professional with a strong background in higher education, according to the nomination.

Gomez’s of ce at Tri-C navigates 3,000 individuals through student groups annually. Marginalized learners from Black, Latino, Asian and LGBTQ backgrounds are further served via student resource organizations.

Robust leadership extends to Bienvenidos a Cleveland, a collaborative project that supported families relocating from Puerto Rico to Cleveland in Hurricane Maria's aftermath. About 5,000 people received services through this initiative. The program has “expanded to serve all individuals and families relocating from any part of the world,” the nomination said. Serving as president of Hispanic Roundtable Community Programs is just one example of Gomez's community involvement.

— Douglas J. Guth

Gladisa Guadalupe

Co-founder and artistic director, Cleveland Ballet

A child prodigy who mastered her craft at a young age in her native Puerto Rico, Gladisa Guadalupe understands the impact dance can have on young people. That’s why, since relaunching the Cleveland Ballet brand in 2014, she has put a premium on making the art form approachable to marginalized communities and schools.

In 2000, she opened the Cleveland School of Dance, and in 2014, Guadalupe and her husband, Michael Krasnyansky, relaunched the Cleveland Ballet, which had gone dormant years earlier.

The company, which has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing ballet companies in the country, has since grown from ve dancers to 32 dancers from nine countries, including Puerto Rico, Columbia and Brazil.

— Timothy Magaw

Alyssa Hernandez

Director of community development, city of Cleveland

Alyssa Hernandez was tapped in 2022 by then-newly elected Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb to help “bring City Hall into the 21st century,” according to the nomination.

As one of the mayor’s rst group of appointments, Hernandez oversees the in uential city department responsible for a wide variety of priorities. Hernandez is responsible for administering federal Housing Urban Development funds; implementing programs to strengthening the city’s housing stock; revitalizing commercial and retail; and assisting with the development of unique neighborhood growth strategies.

Under Hernandez’s direction and armed with the in ux of American Rescue Plan Act-related HUD funding, the development department recently created an innovative gap nancing program aimed at supporting equitable housing in the city.

— Kim Palmer

The mission of the May Dugan Center is to help people enrich and advance their lives and communities — things Rick Kemm prioritized long before he arrived at the organization in 2008.

May Dugan is completing a $7.4 million capital campaign that will upgrade the building and provide expanded community programming. Kemm has also bridged access to the center’s core programs to members of the Latino community and built partnerships.

He has worked closely with the leadership of Lutheran Hospital, the Spanish American Committee, United Way, and several other local nonpro t organizations. He has also contributed to Cleveland's AIDS funding collaborative and the Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board and was a member of the Leadership Cleveland Class of 2022.

— Joe Scalzo

Rick Kemm Executive director, May Dugan Center

12.2%

Ricardo León

Chief operating of cer, Cuyahoga Land Bank

Ricardo León grew up in Cleveland and has dedicated himself to improving the city in a thoughtful, equitable way.

As chief operating of cer for the Cuyahoga Land Bank, he manages a $27 million budget. He’s playing a pivotal role in the nonpro t’s focal shift from demolition into development.

Before joining the land bank in 2022, León served as executive director of Metro West Community Development Organization on the city’s West Side. He led a community process to create a Spanish-English master plan for the Clark-Fulton neighborhood, home to the heaviest concentration of Latino residents in the state. León earned a bachelor’s degree from Baldwin Wallace University and has a master’s in urban studies from Cleveland State University.

— Michelle Jarboe

Joe Lopez Owner, KeyNote Management

Over four decades, Joe Lopez has built businesses, buildings, and now, bridges. KeyNote provides diversity, equity and inclusion services and nurtures new businesses.

Lopez currently provides DEI services to the Sherwin-Williams Building, our future downtown skyscraper, its Brecksville research center and others.

Those roles build on his experience creating companies, Modern Era Builders and Atessa Group, which he’s sold, that provide design-build services. His rms worked on the exteriors of Eaton Corp.’s Beachwood campus, the Hilton Cleveland Downtown, and for multiple public and private clients.

A business coach and mentor, Lopez also serves on the boards of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, University Hospitals, Esperanza Inc. and the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

— Stan Bullard

Mariely Luengo CEO, Pueblo Strategies

Mariely Luengo founded Pueblo Strategies in 2022. The rm, according to the nomination, “focuses on delivering actionable strategic plans” to diverse communities.

Last year, Pueblo Strategies was selected as the agency for Hispanic Heritage Month. That led to the creation of the Hispanic Heritage Hub, which aims to connect corporations and organizations with individuals and businesses.

Luengo, who is Hispanic and Jewish, is a co-founder of The West Tribe, a nonpro t that serves the Jewish community on Cleveland’s West Side. She also recently joined CNN en Español as an expert panelist on arts and culture in the Latinx community.

Luengo’s community presence includes board positions with the Julia de Burgos Cultural Arts Center and the Jewish Federation of Cleveland.

— Kevin Kleps

Charles Macias

Division chief of pediatric emergency medicine, University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital

— 2020 U.S. Census

1966

Cleveland’s Spanish American Committee was founded

— Encyclopedia of Cleveland History

Charles Macias wears multiple hats for University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, leading the system’s primary and care networks while working toward elimination of racial inequalities in health care delivery. Through his work, Macias oversees hundreds of safety initiatives that impact approximately 500 physicians and 1,000 nurses. He also manages $70 million in grant funding for a trio of national centers that improve health care outcomes in children.

Bridging gaps along racial, ethnic and gender lines reduces mortality and morbidity for diseases among children, according to the nomination. "Dr. Macias has signi cant impact on improving quality of pediatric care as well as equity and inclusion,” the nomination said.

— Douglas J. Guth

Sponsored Content

NOTABLE SPOTLIGHT with Ricardo León

Crain’s 2023 Notable Latino Leader

How are you helping the Cuyahoga Land Bank evolve into a more development-centric organization?

Ricardo León is known as a leader and role model for many historically disenfranchised and disinvested communities in Cuyahoga County. Throughout his career, he has worked to provide community and economic development services in several historically disinvested neighborhoods, including Clark-Fulton.

León currently serves as Chief Operating Of cer at the Cuyahoga Land Bank, where he is responsible for the organization’s day-to-day operations. Together, León and the Cuyahoga Land Bank are working to provide housing options throughout the county that improve the quality of life for community residents.

Visit cuyahogalandbank.org for more information.

Historically, folks have considered the Land Bank the “demolition corporation.” We were known as the folks who knocked stuff down for the rst decade of our life. But the Land Bank is also into housing, neighborhood stabilization and economic development. We’re gaining traction in the development space, including community, residential, economic and large-scale projects.

My goal moving forward is to elevate the different development areas to the same level as our demolition body of work.

How do you and your team leverage the tools of the Land Bank to make partners successful?

The Land Bank has an inherent and unique toolset that’s provided to us statutorily, whether it’s the fact we can own properties tax-exempt or clear property titles through an expedited tax foreclosure process. All of these tools are supported by state-of-theart research capabilities which are valuable to our region’s economic development and well-being. So, part of the work has been aligning with our partners in a way we can

deploy all of our tools to support a project or development.

What is the importance of the East Cleveland Project?

The East Cleveland Project is a $120 million development project we’re currently leading. It’sprobably one of our most publicly-known development projects in the area at the moment.

We hope to create a mixed-income neighborhood that willincrease the tax base in a city that has seen historic disinvestment and disenfranchisement over the past several decades. Once the project is complete, we hope it will provide a solid foundation for East Cleveland to continue the trajectory toward prosperity.

How has the Land Bank affected the Clark-Fulton area?

In 2022, we completed construction on three Cuyahoga Land Bank homes in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood that were market-rate homes. Through these homes, we showed the development community that it is a neighborhood that has value.

We also showed residents that they could stay and grow in the neighborhood. Historically, the idea

was if you get a better job and get paid well, then you have to leave a neighborhood like Clark-Fulton because there aren’t housing options that allow you to stay.

What’s your main drive behind giving back to local communities?

Unfortunately, growing up in the neighborhood where I lived, there weren’t any role models or aspirational folks to look up to. Many people in these communities live in poverty, lack education or access to the resources they need to succeed.

Throughout my career, I’ve been lucky enough to have people who saw something in me and provided opportunities to grow professionally. My goal in working with residents in communities like Clark-Fulton — and now county-wide — is to hopefully provide the same type of opportunities for the next generation.

What does it mean to be nominated for the Notable Latino Leader Award?

Even being recognized for our work and progress is an absolute honor. I’m lucky to come daily to a job I love.This award is a testament to the diverse and talented people who make this community the vibrant place it is.

of Cleveland’s population is Hispanic or Latino

Adrian Maldonado President and owner, Adrian Maldonado

& Associates

Adrian Maldonado’s career spans 40 years, including over a decade as Cuyahoga County’s director of procurement and diversity. He also oversaw the county's small-business enterprises program.

He then ventured into the construction business. His family-owned company is working on the Sherwin-Williams corporate headquarters and has $400 million in contracts under its belt.

Maldonado is president of the Contractors Assistance Association, which focuses on diversity, equity and inclusion.

The former Berea City Council member serves on the boards of Southwest General Health Center and the Hispanic Roundtable. An Army National Guard veteran, he also served as a U.S. Army recruiter.

— Stan Bullard

Valerie Mayen-Nehez CEO and founder, Yellowcake Shop

Valerie Mayen-Nehez is the CEO and founder of Yellowcake Shop, a contemporary women's clothing line known for responsibly designed, handmade outerwear, tops, dresses and accessories.

She launched the business in 2009 and was featured on the eighth season of the TV show "Project Runway" in 2010. Now, Yellowcake Shop has grown to include full- and part-time staff in Cleveland, Chicago and overseas.

Mayen-Nehez mentors

aspiring designers and collaborates with local Latino-focused organizations while promoting sustainable fashion.

She’s also passionate about teaching women nancial literacy and does so by posting videos on the topic and running a free book club.

— Kristine Gill

Nicole McGee Co-founder and executive director, Upcycle Parts Shop

Nicole McGee is the driving force behind Upcycle Parts Shop, where she uses her background as a reuse-artist, fundraiser and sociologist to grow the St. Clair Superior secondhand storefront.

According to the nomination, McGee reaches more than 10,000 people annually through her retail shop, programs, workshops and community-building events.

Upcycle has diverted more than 48 tons of usable materials from land lls, and in 2022 alone, it provided creative education services to 63 organizations and accepted material donations from 390 donors, while engaging 16 part-time staff and 14 volunteers.

McGee also serves on the board of St. Clair Superior Development Corporation.

— Judy Stringer

Eugene Sean Medina Partner, Hahn Loeser & Parks

In between managing associates as part of Hahn Loeser & Parks’ litigation team, Eugene Sean Medina has made a signi cant impact at his law rm in the realm of diversity, equity and inclusion.

In particular, Medina, who is Puerto Rican, is credited with reforming Hahn Loeser’s DEI committee in 2020. His efforts culminated in a Midsize Mans eld Rule certi cation from the Diversity Lab, a program designed to increase and sustain the representation of historically underrepresented attorneys in law rm leadership.

Medina also is a longtime director for the Epilepsy Association, where he has championed the nonpro t’s increased outreach to the Latino community, and is involved with the College Now Mentoring Program.

— Jeremy Nobile

MORE THAN MEDICINE

Nancy Mendez President and CEO, Starting Point

Nancy Mendez is at the forefront of Starting Point, a Cleveland nonpro t that prepares youth for success through education and a call for systemic change.

Mendez leads 65 employees in raising and managing an $11 million annual budget, while recently securing $7 million for initiatives that impact children and families.

Uplifting Greater Cleveland’s Latino community is key to Mendez’s work, as stated in the nomination. Since joining Starting Point, Mendez has kickstarted collaborations with Spanish-speaking child care programs and professionals.

“This ensures more families will be able to access quality child care,” the nomination said. Mendez was a Crain's Woman of Note in 2020.

— Douglas J. Guth

In the wake of a youth mental health crisis, Dr. Lisa Ramirez has positioned MetroHealth’s School Health Program to not just respond to children in crisis, but to promote wellbeing in schools before mental health is a problem.

Her impact on urban youth can be felt outside of the school setting, expanding the integrated behavioral health care presence in MetroHealth’s pediatric clinics. And—through it all—she has prioritized MetroHealth’s core value of equity by creating ways for Latinos to gain experience, nd careers, and see themselves represented in mental health.

The MetroHealth System congratulates Dr. Lisa Ramirez for her impactful leadership in making mental health resources more accessible to all children.

Lisa Ramirez, PhD, ABPP Associate Director of Pediatric Psychology and the School Health Program’s Director of Community and Behavioral Health

‘We have Latinos doing great things in the community’

AmMore Consulting is about to release the fourth list of “100+ Latinos Cleveland Must Know.” Founded in 2018 by Marcia Moreno, AmMore promotes inclusivity for the Latino community. A list that started in 2020 with 100 names has grown to more than 400 this year. That list, she said, will be the business’ legacy.

— Pat McManamon

EDGAR SAN JOSE!

What kind of place is Cleveland in terms of welcoming the Latino community?

I don’t pretend that my experience re ects everybody’s. I’m a rstgeneration immigrant who came in 2005 as an adult when I went to graduate school. I think, in general, it’s a welcoming city, but we can always do better. ere’s a lot of stereotyping and generalizing about Latinos, not just in Cleveland but the country. I think it’s important to dig a little deeper into who we are and how we want to contribute to this community.

What can you tell me about your childhood and family background in Chile?

I was born and raised in the ’80s under the dictatorship of Pinochet. Not that I had a unique experience as it relates to the dictatorship. I grew up in a small country town. It was a very sheltered childhood and everything was controlled. But I had a wonderful childhood. I went to an all-girls Catholic school. I studied journalism at a large university in Concepcion, in the south of Chile. anks to a partnership with Cleveland State, I was able to start my master’s in 2005. Originally I was just coming for two years, but I met my husband and 18 years later, here we are.

How challenging was it to go to graduate school here?

I had to learn to navigate another world, another culture, another country before mastering the language. My rst classes were hard; I translated everything in my mind so my notes were in Spanish and I would think in Spanish rst. It took me forever to write a report. By the time I was able to ask a question in my class, they would be talking about a di erent topic. It was hard at rst, but you don’t give up.

What are you proudest of about your business?

I try to help organizations be more inclusive to Latinos. We have to understand we are a fast-growing segment of every aspect of the United States. I’m proud as a businesswoman that I have found a niche, that I found problems and o ered solutions. I’m also proud of the 100+ Latinos list. We have Latinos doing great things in the community; we just don’t know about them. e list is changing that.

What’s been the response to your work?

Changing cultures and hearts takes time, and many of the e orts I proposed are longer-term. But creating an ecosystem of di erent initiatives in the city is important. I’m proud to say that in the time I’ve been here I’ve seen a lot of movement in spaces and di erent elds. And I’m not the only one trying to elevate and empower the community. I’m excited to be part of the momentum.

“I had to learn to navigate another world, another culture, another country before mastering the language.”

“Changing cultures and hearts takes time, and many of the efforts I proposed are longer-term. But creating an ecosystem of different initiatives in the city is important.”

AU’s Notable Latino Leader

Marcia Moreno President and founder, AmMore Consulting

Marcia Moreno founded AmMore Consulting in 2018 to promote a more equitable workplace for Cleveland’s growing Latino community. Its hallmark: The list of “100+ Latinos Cleveland Must Know.” AmMore also offers workshops and programs focused on acceptance and equity.

Moreno was raised in Chile and came to Cleveland to attend graduate school at Cleveland State. There, she met her husband and became a permanent resident.

Moreno’s degrees are in communications. She is a 2009 graduate of LeadDIVERSITY and is involved with the Young Latino Network, College Now and Global Cleveland. She was honored as a Crain's Woman of Note in 2021.

“I’m trying to shine a positive light into the Latino community in Greater Cleveland,” she said.

— Pat McManamon

Lisa Ramirez

Associate director of pediatric psychology, MetroHealth

MetroHealth bills itself as Cleveland’s public safety net, a moniker Lisa Ramirez takes seriously in bringing youth mental health resources to the region.

Over the last ve years, Ramirez has overseen growth of MetroHealth’s child behavioral development efforts, including shepherding the school health program into the realm of prevention services. According to the nomination, this shift allows MetroHealth to promote wellness on a more preventive basis.

Ramirez also develops mental health programming for Latino youth, along with pipelines for community members to work as mental health professionals.

“We are proud to have Dr. Ramirez on our team,” the nomination said. “Her innovative work and dedication to Cleveland’s children inspires everyone who has the privilege of working with her.”

— Douglas J. Guth

Rita Navarro-Horwitz President and CEO, Better Health Partnership

Rita Navarro-Horwitz, Better Health Partnership’s president and CEO since 2017, oversees a staff of 16, 100plus volunteers and collaborators, and 50-plus partner and member organizations.

In 2020, the nonpro t regional health improvement collaborative launched the Pathways Community HUB, which serves at-risk populations in Cuyahoga County. The HUB, according to the nomination, has helped the nonpro t bring “greater health value to its partners and the region, and its programs remain economically viable.”

A year later, BHP collaborated with health centers to increase the share of COVID-19 vaccines that were distributed to Latino community members by 200%.

Jim Weisman, the nonpro t’s board chair, said Navarro-Horwitz “is a fantastic leader, and BHP is very fortunate to have her.”

— Kevin Kleps

Jorge

“Pat” Rios

Executive director, buildings and design,

Cleveland Clinic

Navy veteran and former commander Jorge “Pat” Rios leverages his public and private experience as an indispensable administrator at Cleveland Clinic and an adviser to various inclusiveness initiatives.

At Cleveland Clinic, Rios is responsible for 39 million square feet of facilities — including 200+ buildings in three states and four countries — and oversight of more than 1,100 caregivers, the nomination said.

Recently, he helped launch the largest capital investment ($1.3 billion) in Cleveland Clinic history, which delivered four major projects on time and on budget despite nancial and supply chain hurdles.

Rios encourages the growth of minority contractors through the Hispanic Center for Economic Development, Hispanic Contractors Association and the Greater Cleveland Partnership’s Construction Diversity Initiative.

— Judy Stringer

on being selected by Crain’s Cleveland Business as a Notable Latino Leader honoree.

As our Diversity & Inclusion Committee Chair, Sean’s exemplary advocacy inspires his colleagues to find courage to meet challenges, to speak up for others, and to continually raise the bar.

PRESIDENT CARLOS CAMPO embodies exceptional leadership and unwavering dedication. With his visionary approach and commitment to education, he has transformed countless lives and he is the epitome of Latino leadership in our community.

Rodriguez Senior vice president, KeyBank

Angel Rodriguez oversees the largest business banking team across KeyBank's 15-state footprint. During his tenure, Rodriguez’s team has been recognized consistently among Key’s top-performing business banking teams across the country.

According to the nomination, he nds his greatest motivation in leading and coaching others. Over the last year, Rodriguez is proud of having promoted 30% of his team.

Rodriguez also serves as the board chair for The Spanish American Committee, which serves more than 5,500 low-income individuals and families each year. Under his leadership, the committee has bolstered its nancial position and focused on leveraging its Latino Construction and Mi Casa programs to deliver high-paying jobs and affordable housing to Clevelanders on the near West Side.

— Timothy Magaw

Alex Rosa CEO, Boutique Telemedicine

Providing elevated health coaching and holistic care for women executives and entrepreneurs is the mission of Alex Rosa, whose solo Boutique Telemedicine business has served 50 clients thus far in 2023.

Rosa brings awareness to women’s health issues through social media campaigns and speaking engagements, with a focus on improving revenue and workplace performance.

“Additionally, I have inspired individuals of Latino descent in the health care eld to pursue their personal and professional dreams, empowering them to make a meaningful difference in their communities and families,” the nomination said.

She earned her nursing practice doctorate from Ashland University in 2022.

Rosa hosts weekly wellness walks in her community, while also volunteering for a Cleveland-area high school’s disaster training program.

— Douglas J. Guth

Myra Rosario President LC Media and Marketing

Myra Rosario founded Latino Cleveland in 2007.

What was then a website that highlighted the region’s Hispanic business and entertainment organizations is now a full-service ad agency — LC Media and Marketing.

Rosario works with up to 20 clients per month, managing advertising and media buying for niche campaigns. A notable recent win was generating a 572% increase in social media engagement for a construction association.

The entrepreneur, according to the nomination, is a spokesperson and resource for Latino-owned businesses.

Rosario “is an exceptionally talented marketing and media consultant,” said Adele DiMarco, the founder and CEO of Yinovate Consulting and Coaching. “Her creativity, insight and can-do spirit is a blessing to anyone working with her.”

— Kevin Kleps

Vice president, Latin America & Americas rail, U.S. automotive aftermarket Timken Co.

Edgar San Jose has a big role at Timken, where since 2020 he has been responsible for advancing Timken’s leadership in engineered bearings and industrial motion throughout Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. He’s also responsible for growing rail sales across the Americas and U.S automotive aftermarket sales. He was well prepared.

Throughout his Timken career, San Jose held positions as a sales manager, account executive and business development manager, where he was responsible for the development and implementation of inorganic growth strategies.

San Jose also serves on the board of Esperanza Inc., which empowers Northeast Ohio’s Hispanic community to achieve academic and economic excellence.

— Dan Shingler

Angel

Edgar San Jose

Ramonita Vargas CEO, Spanish American Committee

Ramonita Vargas’ title does not do justice to her work at the Spanish American Committee (SAC). Vargas has worked at the SAC for almost 40 of its 60 years and has been CEO since 2010.

She implemented a workforce training program in the trades last year, graduating and placing more than 120 participants, many in positions that started in the $60,000 per year pay range. She also started a program in 2022 to help rst-time homebuyers. SAC’s Latino Construction Program graduated its 14th class in 2022; the program partners with unions, associations, builders and others to provide training and jobs to Hispanic and Latino workers. Crain's Cleveland Business honored Vargas as a Woman of Note in 2023.

— Pat McManamon

Shaleika Vargas President, Vargas Law Co.

Puerto Rico native Shaleika Vargas graduated from Cleveland’s Early College High School with honors at age 16 and went to start her own law rm months after earning a law degree at Case Western Reserve University in 2013.

She has since nurtured Vargas Law into a ve-person rm that manages over 130 clients in the heart of Cleveland’s Latino community.

Vargas earns trust from her clients as one of the few area attorneys who is a native Spanish speaker, the nomination said.

Outside the rm, she is on the board of St. Luke’s Foundation and a former board member of the Spanish American Committee. She also was integral to the launch of CWRU’s rst Hispanic Law Student’s Association.

— Judy Stringer

Carmen M. Verhosek Partner, Dooley Gembala McLaughlin Pecora

Carmen M. Verhosek became partner within three years of practicing law at Dooley Gembala McLaughlin Pecora, one of the biggest elder law rms in Ohio, according to the nomination. Beyond her distinguished legal work, Verhosek is board chair of the Hispanic Business Center and a central gure in the development of CentroVilla 25, a $10 million project to address the food desert in the Latino community.

She has been recognized in “100 + Latinos CLE Must Know” by AmMore Consulting and as a Leadership Lorain County 2023 Difference Maker, earning its Emerald Award for Inspiration. Verhosek also is an active member of the Estate Planning Council of Cleveland and the Next Generation of Estate Planners.

— Judy Stringer

honoring Angel Rodriguez for

Dr. Monica Yepes-Rios

Medical director of community health and partnerships, west region, Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Monica Yepes-Rios is an internal medicine physician at Lutheran Hospital's Hispanic Clinic, catering to the unique medical needs of Cleveland's Puerto Rican population with bilingual care.

As the medical director of community health and partnerships for Cleveland Clinic's west region, her team received a grant to promote nutrition to reduce chronic disease.

A rst-generation physician, she became the inaugural assistant dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 2021, where she teaches culturally sensitive care.

Yepes-Rios, a native of Colombia, is uent in English, French and Spanish. She sits on the boards of the Spanish American Committee and Three Arches Foundation.

— Kristine Gill

Zulma Zabala

Senior fellow of community and racial equity, The Center for Community Solutions

Zulma Zabala leads neighborhood impact work at The Center for Community Solutions, managing a $1 million budget while keeping a focus on regional racial equity.

Both in work and daily life, Zabala is a practitioner of “ubuntu,” a South African philosophy that acknowledges the natural connectivity of all human beings. In practice, Zabala integrates ubuntu into her organization’s culture, with the recently opened Ubuntu Gathering Place serving as a lively symbol of that work “where neighbors will share, celebrate, and collaborate with one another.”

“Zulma is an extraordinary leader and teacher in the neighborhood and the board room,” said the nomination. “It’s her commitment to connectivity that produces long-lasting community impact.”

— Douglas J. Guth

influential business leadership.

Angel Rodriguez Business Banking Sales Leader

A CREATIVE ECONOMY

Northeast Ohio’s arts scene continues to grow after the struggles of the pandemic

Grant Segall

Cleveland Shakespeare has sold T-shirts saying “All the CLE’s a stage.” “ eater can be anywhere, and theater is for everyone,” Artistic Director Dusten Welch told spectators last month of the troupe, which tours from Lorain to Mentor.

And CLE has a world of stages. Parks, plazas, porches, schools, libraries, hospitals, airports, cemeteries, shelters, prisons and repurposed factories all get in the act. City Ballet danced this month on a boardwalk over a marsh at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes. Downtown Cleveland Inc. is recruiting buskers to work sidewalks in the footsteps of the late Maurice “Sax Man” Reedus Jr.

SPONSORS

The Unit eXperience Project performs July 19 at Wade Oval Wednesday. | PHOTOS BY KEN BLAZE

AN ABUNDANCE OF TALENT, CREATIVITY

By Grant Segall

Forget the old joke about Cleveland’s orchestra being better than the Titanic’s. Locals say our arts help to lift all boats.

Rapping and rhapsodizing, weaving and welding, miming and rhyming, our diverse culture evokes, provokes, illuminates and inspires. It enriches our minds, our hearts and not incidentally our wallets, boosting employment and tourism.

Besides, says Craig Hassall, who leads Playhouse Square, “it’s good fun. It’s not like medicine.”

Andre Gremillet, who runs the Cleveland Orchestra, says, “I’ve lived all over the world. is is as great a music scene as you’ll ever see, with incredible access and quality.”

A scene of music and more.

William Griswold, who leads the Cleveland Museum of Art, says, “We have a really diverse and wonderful ecosystem of arts and culture.”

Dr. Monica Torres, head of LatinUs eater Co., agrees, and says of Cleveland, “It’s the best

place in the world to be in the arts.”

Over time, many creative Northeastern Ohioans have taken their talents elsewhere. Langston Hughes, Bob Hope, Paul Newman, Toni Morrison, Rita Dove and Halle Berry are just a few. But many locals have stayed and reached wider audiences, like graphic novelist Harvey Pekar, polka king Frankie Yankovic, children’s author Angela Johnson and classical personality Robert Conrad, considered the world’s longest-running broadcaster today at more than 75 years.

Peter Lawson Jones, actor, playwright, lawyer and former Cuyahoga County commissioner, says that most artists here or anywhere need other jobs. But Karamu House’s Tony Sias says “ ere are a number of artists in Cleveland who make a living with their art. ... I encourage people to see the larger ecosystems in this country and abroad and come back to share their talents with us.”

Kara Martinelli and Adam White, the spouses behind Hemlock Films, say they’re thriving in their native Northeast Ohio. ey

specialize in documentaries about historic ight, working with NASA Glenn Research Center and Dayton’s National Aviation Hall of Fame. ey think that, if they lived in Los Angeles, they might get more meetings but not necessarily more deals.

en again, Cindy Barber of the Beachland Ballroom says there’s a vicious circle for local musicians.

“Until you get that great review in New York, Cleveland doesn’t recognize you.” Yet tours are growing prohibitive.

Poet Kisha Nicole Foster says that clients for readings and commissions don’t understand and support “the behind-the-scenes of being an artist. I have to research, then I have to write, then I have to revise and revise again.”

Nicole Mullet, head of Summit County’s ArtsNow support group, says the region has many a ordable places for artists to live and create. But Liz Maugans, who runs Cleveland’s Yards Project art hub, says that artists helped to revive neighborhoods like Tremont and Gordon Square so well, they can’t a ord them anymore. She’d like developers to collaborate with them on places where they can stay and contribute.

For their part, spectators, visitors and patrons are impressed with the work.

e coasts have more celebrities, but Cleveland likes its creatives. “ e talent blows me away,” Gail Bunce said at a Cleveland Shakespeare Festival show last month at Lakewood Park.

“I was afraid that there’d be nothing here,” Liv Carle, who left Chicago two years ago for Case Western Reserve University, said at a Middle Eastern edition of the World on Stage concerts at the unique Cleveland Cultural Gardens. “But I live on campus, and I can walk and see amazing art and music.”

Working to advance racial equity and economic mobility for the next generation in the Great Lakes region. JoyceFdn.org

Jerry Schmidt creates large and small works in steel, aluminum and copper. He operates a studio and gallery on Waterloo Road in downtown Cleveland with his son and grandson. | KEN BLAZE

ARTS

From Page 18

But the COVID-19 pandemic particularly hurt the arts and artists.

“Performers of every variety were the rst ones out and the last ones back,” says Leonard DiCosimo, whose dual leadership of the Cleveland Federation of Musicians and the North Shore Federation of Labor speaks to the arts’ share of the job market.

e struggles during the pandemic have underscored the leading role the arts play in Northeast Ohio’s economy, and put a spotlight on the importance of their recovery and growth ahead.

At the pandemic’s peak, 63% of artists were unemployed, according to Americans for the Arts. By July 2021, nonpro t arts groups had lost $17.8 billion.

Many patrons helped by declining refunds for canceled shows and classes. e government helped, too. Cleveland allocated $3 million of pandemic relief to the arts, Cuyahoga County $3.3 million and the state $50 million. e federal government also created unemployment insurance for gig workers.

Parking lots became safe spaces for reggae’s Carlos Jones and for GroundWorks Dance eater. Front yards became and remain stages for the OPUS 216 ensemble and for guitarist Moises Borges. Homeowners hire the musicians, and neighbors tip them.

Arts groups added many virtual programs that continue today.

e orchestra created podcasts, a streaming app, a recording studio, a house label and more. e Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s virtual fare has reached 1.2 million students in 156 countries during the past 15 months.

Live attendance is rebounding, too. Leaders of several venues say they’ve regained 70% to 90%, despite some price hikes. Live Akron’s venues have drawn more than before, partly by adding stages and shows, some of them postponed from the pandemic. e Rock Hall has surpassed previous revenues, partly because visitors are spending more.

But proprietors say that the pandemic heightened a trend of caution among spectators, who tend to buy tickets closer to showtime and choose less experimental fare.

e economic risks and rewards are important to Northeast Ohio.

According to a Bowling Green State University study, creative industries from textiles to media paid $4.8 billion to 83,000 workers and produced $8.3 billion in value during 2019 in the seven counties of Greater Cleveland.

According to a study by Tourism Economics, Cleveland’s “Big Four” arts institutions — the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Orchestra, Playhouse Square and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — spent $194 million in 2019, before the pandemic. Greg Harris, who runs the 28-yearold Rock Hall, says, “ is community cobbled together $95 million to build this building. We’ve returned over $100 million to the region every single year since then.”

Over the years, cherished ven-

ues like Leo’s Casino and the Barking Spider have closed, and the Salvador Dali Museum moved to St. Petersburg. But new venues have arisen, like the Music Box, Transformer Station, Screw Factory, Christmas Story House, and Museum of American Porcelain Art. And many enduring venues have renovated and expanded. Cleveland teems not just with stages but spectacles. For starters, there are FRONT International, IngenuityFest, Cleveland International Piano Competition, Cleveland International Film Festival, Tri-C JazzFest and BorderLight Fringe Festival. Ethnic, neighborhood and church festivals showcase music, dance and other arts. We hardy Clevelanders even rock outdoors in February at Brite Winter.

“thank god for the man who sang, ‘thank god for the man who put the white lines on the highway.’”

— a mural on Payne Avenue by WRDSMITH for the Gra ti HeArt organization honoring late rocker Michael Stanley.

Tourism Economics says the Big Four had 2.6 million visitors in 2019, rivaling our pro sports teams. About 1.4 million of the visitors came from outside Cuyahoga County and spent $317 million, including at other local establishments. One million stayed overnight.

Many lesser-known arts groups draw, too. Praxis Fiber Workshop recently hosted 107 people from ve countries for a workshop. e 12-day Cleveland yagaraja Festival, billed as the biggest Indian classical music event outside of India, hosts about 10,000 people per year.

e arts help persuade many outsiders to stay.

Mera Cardenas says they’re part of why she left booming Atlanta in 2019 to run Canalway Partners. Here “the talent and quality of productions and people are astounding. ... ere's something really magical in Cleveland's public spaces and arts projects.” She has started a yearly Towpath Trail

Arts groups are trying harder lately to serve communities of need. Fred Bidwell, a leading arts benefactor, says, “ e progress has been dramatic.”

Since 2016, the Cuyahoga Arts & Culture agency has tripled its number of grantees to organizations with minority leaders and underserved patrons. Since 2019, thanks in part to displays of minority works, the BIPOC share of the Museum of Art’s attendees has risen from 18% to 26%.

Many arts groups send free emissaries to schools and free buses for eld trips. e art museum’s new Community Arts Center serves the mostly Hispanic neighborhood of Clark-Fulton and hosts a Studio Go that tours the town.

Bones ugs-N-Harmony star Anthony “Krayzie Bone” Henderson is trying to start a hip-hop museum and academy in Cleveland to boost equity in his eld. At a City Club forum this month, he said he wants to diversify a eld run mostly by whites promoting negative stereotypes of Black people.

Some arts groups have always fought for equity. Since its start in 1935, the Cleveland Foundation’s Anis eld-Wolf Book Awards has given out the nation’s only juried prizes for books addressing racism and diversity.

Tony Sias, head of Karamu House, billed as the nation’s oldest Black theater, says, “I’m seeing some great work in Cleveland in content inclusive of BIPOC and other groups. Let’s make sure we sustain it at the board level and the operating level.”

Cleveland’s major mainstream arts organizations have had few minority chief executives.

It helps all audiences that Cleveland culture is a ordable and accessible. Dale Robinson Anglin, a Cleveland Foundation vice president for grantmaking and community impact, says she’s managed to attend more arts in six years here than in 20 years near New York City.

Lantern Parade featuring illuminated art.

With so many coming for culture, it’s fitting that a Playhouse Square affiliate owns and manages a hotel and apartments.

Our arts are part of a broader culture of universities, libraries, related businesses like American Greetings and digital distributor OverDrive, and unrelated but creative ones. Baiju Shah, who leads the Greater Cleveland Partnership, says, “Ideas get exchanged, inspirations get exchanged, among the arts community and the business community.” David Gilbert, head of Destination Cleveland, says that creativity is part of Cleveland’s persona.

“pray hard/ for women who manifested dreams/ whose mothers heard late night sirens”

— local poet Kisha Nicole Foster in “Watch Yo’ Back (For the Imperial Women),” written in memory of 11 murder victims

A top ticket online to the musical “Six” for a recent Saturday night cost $144 at Playhouse Square versus $249.50 on Broadway, counting fees. What’s more, the buyer didn’t have to line up at Times Square hours ahead, call a friend who cuts the star’s hair, or ght tra c en route.

e Museum of Art is one of the nation’s biggest free museums. e Rock Hall is free to residents of Cleveland proper. Many smaller venues are free, too, especially outdoor ones. Of course, outdoor shows are subject to Cleveland’s weather and lately Canada’s wild res.

At Wade Oval Wednesday shows, spectators dance to the “Wade Oval Wobble.” Some blow a whistle or twirl a hula hoop. Spectator Vida Bonner loves WOW’s diverse crowds. “Everyone’s getting along with one another. is is the way to be.” Jeremy Johnson, who leads Assembly for the Arts, a support and advocacy group, says, “Arts and culture are at the heart of creating a stronger democracy. ey bring people together.”

Jessica Pinsky (top) is executive director and founder of Praxis Fiber Workshop. The nonpro t aims to build a network of ber artists through classes, workshops and residencies. Barbara Danforth (bottom) works on a cornice during an open studio at Praxis.

Most of Cleveland’s historic arts organizations were founded by tycoons. Now the arts also count on support from governments and foundations.

In 2006 and again in 2015, Cuyahoga voters approved the nation’s only county cigarette tax for the arts. But tobacco sales are falling, and Cuyahoga Arts & Culture’s yearly grants have dropped by more than half to $12.3 million for 2023. The group’s leader, Jill Paulsen, expects to ask voters before long to raise the rate from its current 30 cents per pack.

Last month, with help from the Cleveland and Gund foundations, Cleveland City Hall took on its first arts strategist, painter Rhonda Brown.

“I’ve always had a tremendous regard for the arts in Cleveland, and they’ve only gotten better,” says Brown, whose parents ran the racially pioneering Malcolm Brown Gallery here.

Congress boosted the National Endowment for the Arts’ bud -

get from $180 million last year to $207 million this year. State legislators raised funding for the Ohio Arts Council by $5 million to $23 million for fiscal 2024.

The state also raised a yearly cap for theater and film tax credits from $40 million to $50 million, plus another $25 million for related infrastructure. Since 2009, Ohio’s film industry has produced $1.4 billion in value, according to Bill Garvey, president of the Greater Cleveland Film Commission. But he says Ohio struggles to compete with states that help more, some of them up front.

During the past six years, the Cleveland Foundation has averaged $12.8 million per year in staff-directed or donor-directed grants to the arts. The foundation’s new headquarters have a dance studio and community art gallery on the ground floor. Its forthcoming Midtown Collaboration Center will host several arts groups.

“We have arts spaces for com -

Patrons want Cleveland to tout its talent more. “There are people who’d enjoy it but don’t know,” Jason Kirksey says while catching a Third Friday open house at the vast 78th Street Studios.

Karamu’s Sias says, “We are an exceptional community in terms of how much is invested in arts and culture. We need to do even more.”

At the Rainey Institute this summer, Imani Hawthorne painted a balloon the color of a rainbow and made a paper basket for it inscribed, “Slaying all day long.” The 10-year-old said she loves Rainey’s summer camp because “I get to work with my friends and do my passion: art. I can use it to express my feelings and emotions.”

Ohio requires arts education yearly in kindergarten through eighth grade and 120 hours in high school. But many districts require or offer more. And many students pursue more after school in programs like The Singing Angels or Distinguished Gentlemen of Spoken Word.

The arts are taught at colleges, notably Baldwin Wallace, Oberlin, the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Cleveland Institute of Art. They’re also offered to seniors in a trend known as creative aging.

Studies show that the arts boost physical, mental and social health. The Cleveland Clinic’s Arts & Medicine Institute promotes them in therapy and other kinds of patient care.

The arts also boost math and language skills. Writing and performing with other youths, young refugees have improved their English at the hip-hop program Refresh Collective.

Impact of The Big Four

The largest areas of economic impact attributable to visitors to the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Orchestra, Playhouse Square and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

DirectIndirectInduced

Recreation/entertainment: $177.7M

Finance, insurance, real estate: $127.7M

Retail trade: $113.7M

Business services: $106.2M

Food & beverage: $105M

Other transport: $47.3M

Lodging: $47.3M

Education/health care: $29.2M

Personal services: $16.3M

Communications: $13.5M

Wholesale trade: $13.5M

Direct impacts comprise spending in sectors directly related to visitor activity, such as transportation and lodging. Indirect impacts include the spending within those sectors — expenditures needed for supplies and utilities, for example. Induced effects are such items as wages and taxes employees of those sectors spend within the economy.

Source: Tourism Economics Economic & Fiscal

Impact report for 2019

A by-the-numbers look at what 2019 Big Four attendees spent in Northeast Ohio, including at restaurants, hotels and other venues.

$93.5 million

Food and beverage

$73.1 million

munity and connection,” says Boris Oicherman, the foundation’s director for arts grants.

In 2021, the Orchestra got $50 million, its biggest gift ever, from Mandel Foundation, partly to start a Mandel Opera and Humanities Festival.

The arts also count on many volunteers.

Scraping paint and scrounging funds in the 1970s and 1980s, Junior Leaguers helped save Playhouse Square’s 1920s showcases. Now 2,000 volunteers called Redcoats guide audiences among up to 9,300 seats, more than in any U.S. theater complex besides Lincoln Center. Redcoat Ellen Opalach says, “When people come into the theater, there’s this buzz and energy. It’s exciting.”

Most funders help individuals or nonprofits. Advocates would like more support for struggling clubs, galleries and other for-profit venues. They also want a major film studio, more music publishers and more agents.

Larry Goodpaster, finance and operations director of the Beck Center for the Arts, says performers learn public speaking and gain self-esteem. It’s great to get a paper back with an A, but it can’t compare with instant cheers across the footlights.

Honey Bell-Bey, Cuyahoga County’s poet laureate and The Distinguished Gentlemen’s leader, says the arts also help audiences. “I can connect with your story even if it isn’t directly about me. You’re giving me an invitation to better understand myself, to be vulnerable and authentic. There’s magic there.”

Artists say they’re inspired by Cleveland’s many heritages and factories, by its glittering lake and shifting skies. With all that variety, is there a Cleveland style?

“It’s the grittiness,” says encaustic wax painter Dawn Tekler. “Cleveland is plucky.”

“We’re not trying to be cute,” says poet Foster. “We just show up as we are.”

“‘THIS’” is where nightmares fertilize possibilities/...All that we are, overcoming all that we are not” — poet Bell-Bey in the unpublished “Arts Melting Pot.”

Retail $57.4 million

Transportation $47.3 million

Lodging $45.5 million

Recreation

$317 million

Total spending by Big Four visitors

Source: Tourism Economics

Spectators twirl a hula hoop and dance to the music at Wade Oval Wednesday on July 19. The free concert series draws a crowd to University Circle each week with musical performances representing a broad range of genres. | PHOTOS BY KEN BLAZE

“Ideas get exchanged, inspirations get exchanged, among the arts community and the business community.”

Baiju Shah, president and CEO, Greater Cleveland Partnership

Investing in artists pays dividends across our economy

Arts and culture play an outsized role in the economic and social vibrancy of Greater Cleveland. Some $9.1 billion is generated annually by Northeast Ohio’s creative economy industry — a mix of nonpro ts, cultural businesses and individual artists — according to pre-pandemic research from Ohio Citizens for the Arts.

It’s no surprise that Cleveland’s major institutions help lead the region’s arts economic engine. e largest four arts organizations alone generate $822 million yearly in economic impact, says a study from the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Orchestra, Playhouse Square and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

What may be more surprising is the role of individual artists in the region’s cultural and economic market. Of all the creative industries, ranging from advertisers to museums to performing arts companies, it’s the independent artists, writers and performers who account for the largest number of jobs — some 9,203, according to the OCA study. Artists’ contribution to the region’s vibrancy

is undeniable. For Cleveland to be a healthier, talent-rich region, it’s important to grow support for, and investment in, individual artists.

e results can be transformative. After the COVID pandemic, Assembly for the Arts worked with the Cuyahoga County Executive and county council to allocate more than $4 million in ARPA funds for 400 artists and 65 small creative businesses that had ceased or curtailed operations. is impactful investment put struggling creatives on their feet to generate creativity and income.

is work is important because independent artists are among our most vulnerable cultural human assets. A recent report by Helicon for Fractured Atlas shows that labor protections and safety-net bene ts are not typically available to artists who often rely on “gig” work as an important source of income.

Cuyahoga County artists are the backbone of this billion-dollar industry — and they struggle to make ends meet. According to Assembly’s own surveys of artists who applied for ARPA funding, more than one in four local artists said they were concerned they wouldn’t be able to make rent or buy food in the next two months. More than three in four artists said they often worry about having enough money to pay their bills.

Initiatives are underway to better understand and support individual artists. Assembly for the Arts, the region’s arts coun-

cil, has been contracted by the government agency Cuyahoga Arts & Culture to re-examine how support for individual artists can be strengthened. e results will be released by year end.

Dozens of artists have come together under Assembly’s umbrella to brainstorm solutions to critical issues, such as how to earn a livable wage that re ects their worth and how to nd local and a ordable live/ work spaces.

Assembly o ers programs that support artists through professional development and unrestricted stipends while bene ting the community. Sixteen local artists make up our rst Critical Impact Fund program to spur arts activity in historically redlined neighborhoods in Cleveland and East

Cleveland — a program made possible by Cuyahoga County residents through a $140,000 grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.

More than two dozen artists joined our Arts Leadership Residency, part of the Entrepreneur in Residence program powered by Huntington, and in partnership with Cleveland Leadership Center.

ese are just a few examples of how Assembly for the Arts has worked to support the region’s artists — most of whom make their livings through the gig economy.

We do this work because the arts are important locally, statewide and nationally. When our region competes for the best and the brightest in the knowledge economy, our arts and culture assets provide a critical edge. Entrepreneurs, their companies and their sta want to live in places with diverse populations and creative thinkers.

Assembly invites readers to join the movement to unify and strengthen the artists, organizations and businesses that comprise the creative sector. Visit assemblycle. org to learn more about upcoming events, programs and partnerships. Together, we will expand the pie of resources and increase equity in Cleveland’s arts and culture scene.

Why? e economic health, quality of life and livability of Cuyahoga County depends on it.

Jeremy Johnson is president and CEO of Assembly for the Arts, a nonpro t advocacy, equity and policy organization.

GRANT SEGALL

Audiences and artists can forge new relationship post-pandemic

Iremember, with devastating clarity, the postwork rush of energy.

Time to clock out, time to catch a show or head to a gallery opening, grab a quick drink with friends, and call it a night because it’s a Tuesday. Nothing all-consuming, but enough to feel tethered to a community of like-minded enthusiasts. en the pandemic hit, and with it, the screeching halt of that social life.

Countless words have been written about the decline in audiences and endless Zoom meetings about the vexations of attendance have been held.

Region’s arts scene needs support of Northeast Ohio corporations

Readers of this publication already understand that Cleveland has a long history as a home for international brands and global businesses.

ink Sherwin-Williams, Eaton, Goodyear, Cleveland Clinic, Progressive Insurance and Nestle. e list goes on and on. Every great city today must compete on a global stage. Even when markets are domestic, in business, competition comes from all over the world and the growth opportunity is global. Our corporate community already knows that their standing on the world stage directly impacts our success locally.

season-long exhibition of works by contemporary artists from around the globe spread across our region in partnership with 11 of our world-class arts and education institutions. Our rst two editions, in 2018 and 2022, brought thousands of visitors from across the country and around the world to Cleveland and generated millions of dollars in economic impact.

about a rust belt city in decline.

e global competitiveness of our business sector is a model for creative professionals and artists in Cleveland to think beyond the local and engage in the global creative conversation.

What could an audience want in these times? e arts have the power to make calamity legible, to collectivize our individual anguish and to hold a mirror up (for better or worse). Many art movements draw inspiration from these global moments. Art is a means of expressing the inexpressible, and historically it is in these moments that artistic innovation matters most. Wave after wave of unprecedented global and local events rock our foundations and certainties. We are tasked with living in extremely mutable times and perhaps, as a result, we crave nothing more than the stability of isolation.

Does art matter anymore? I would argue that it has never mattered more.

Fred Bidwell is executive director of FRONT International.

But Cleveland’s strongest international brands may not all come from the corporate side.

e Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Orchestra, Playhouse Square and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum are all among the best of the best internationally in their elds and major magnets for tourism and talent for Cleveland (as well as impressive business enterprises in their own right). But it’s not just the large arts organizations that garner international attention.

Recently, the State Department chose SPACES, a small and scrappy artist-focused gallery and laboratory for creativity, to commission the United States pavilion exhibition at the Venice Architecture Biennale to wide international attention and praise.

e organization I founded, FRONT International, was designed to bring Cleveland’s arts and culture to the world’s attention with a once-every-three-year

e work of our artists and arts institutions supports the international reputation of Cleveland as a signi cant intellectual and innovation hub. A great place to visit, of course, but a great place to live, establish a business, innovate and grow, with the world as an audience and a marketplace.

Sadly, until recently, our corporate and governmental leadership has undervalued the scope and impact of our arts and culture industry in Cleveland. Since many of our arts and culture institutions are “nonpro ts,” they tend to be dismissed as less than serious enterprises. Remember that the 501(c)3 designation is just a tax status; these businesses must operate in the black, often with higher nancial and operating standards, than a public company.

Indeed, creative business is big business in Cleveland.

According to the Assembly for the Arts, the creative economy in Greater Cleveland is a $9.1 billion industry that supports 62,599 jobs. is includes not only arts and cultural organizations, such as museums, theaters, and performing arts companies but a wide range of businesses, from advertising and marketing agencies to design rms and software companies.

Our corporate and cultural sectors have a lot to learn from each other. Cleveland’s outsized arts and culture o erings best represent our community’s energy and creativity and belie the old narratives

Cleveland’s talent is mighty and deep, but we can only win if we are in the game. Our local creatives are exposed to new perspectives and ideas when we bring art and artists to Cleveland. When we earn a worldwide audience for our arts scene, we open new markets and opportunities to our region’s artists.

at’s the idea behind FRONT’s Art Futures Fellowships: a generous nancial stipend, professional development, national and international travel, and participation in our 2025 exhibition. Our goal is to create meaningful careers for artists living in Cleveland.

While not every artist may have an international following and not every business may have a worldwide market, we all are measured by international standards of excellence.

Our corporate sector would be wise to follow the lead of their peers and get more engaged with a local creative industry that is already competitive at a world-class level. e lack of substantive corporate support for excellence in design and artistic expression re ects poorly on our local brands and implies a provincial and unsophisticated worldview.

What drives the arts and culture industry is creativity. What business craves today is innovation. Innovation and creativity are two sides of the same coin. By supporting, sponsoring and collaborating with artists and art institutions, corporations do more than improve the quality of life for their employees and communities; they enhance their status as global competitors.

Art can be beautiful and it can be ugly, it can make us think and it can disappoint us, it can bring us together and pull us apart. And never before has there been so much representation of the many identities we hold within galleries, museums, theater and beyond. Our ways of thinking are broadened and new neural connections emerge when we are exposed to creative practices.

Given these bene ts, where are the audiences? Much ink has been spilled on the agging attendance numbers in the aftermath of the pandemic’s onset. Speculation varies, insisting that a fear of crowds and gatherings was instilled in us — too many people for social distancing, too many inconveniences for folks working from home, too many at-home on-demand options.

Young adults in their formative years, who have historically comprised the audiences for the avant-garde, found their social hours stymied by lockdowns and turned to TikToks and Snapchats, which overwhelmingly outperform in-person activities on a Friday night.

Some have even speculated that the art that is out there for people to see is too grim or challenging — our world is hard enough as it is. Do we need to see one more thing con rming that? is is not a plea to go back to the way it was before. But it is a plea for artists and audiences to rekindle their relationship.

In between artists and audiences, we nd art organizations like SPACES, where I work, that provide the meaningful resources and support artists need to explore and experiment. While our in-gallery numbers have waned, our support for artists is stronger than ever.

As mediators between artists and audiences, we hope to facilitate this bond, but time and time again have been met with limited audience numbers. So we turn to you and ask, what could an audience want in these times?

Tizziana Baldenebro is curator of special projects at SPACES.

The Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Orchestra, Playhouse Square and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (left) are all major magnets for tourism. | UNSPLASH

Cleveland is a city with a bounty of diverse arts and cultural organizations and institutions. We boast organizations that range from newly formed to those celebrating their centennial anniversaries. It’s an established fact that we “punch well above our weight” in arts o erings compared to cities of similar population size.

We have a vibrant and growing community of talented artists who seek to positively impact our community through the expression of their creativity in multiple forms. Our local foundations are committed to ensuring that Cleveland remains a vibrant, arts-rich city and our support of art organizations and artists through the dedicated county tax is admired and envied by many cities wishing to do the same.

But as every creative knows, resting on one’s laurels breeds complacency. ere is work to do to maintain and grow our vibrancy and make Greater Cleveland a more desirable place to live, growing our creative workforce, catalyzing development in our neighborhoods and serving as a bridge between various segments of the community.

Because of the richness of our local art offerings, we tend as a community to focus on the nal product — the inspiring plays, beautiful paintings, engaging museums and galleries. But that has resulted in Cleveland’s arts community being placed into an aesthetic silo: valued but separated from other aspects of community a airs other

than beauti cation e orts.

e process of art making involves critical thought and project management — skills that are transferable to helping solve some of our most challenging civic issues. e arts can open alternate paths of communication, nding commonalities between di erent points of view where con ict previously existed. But that may change, as the City of Cleveland recently hired Rhonda Brown, the rst senior strategist of arts, culture and creative economy. is position has the exciting task of truly integrating art and creative thought into the engine of City Hall.

Other cities have incorporated programs to imbed artists into city departments, to engage sta in examining departmental practices in new and unexpected ways. e city of Minneapolis’ Creative CityMaking initiative envisioned the arts as an important tool to create a more responsive government that imagined new ways of working, and building new channels of engagement with the community to initiate change in how the city functions. Lo-

cal artists worked in departments including Regulatory Services to amplify city tenant’s needs; Information Technology to expand digital equity initiatives and the City Clerk’s O ce to increase voter engagement.

e city of Seattle’s Beloved project is an anti-gun violence campaign linking the community, the O ce of Arts & Culture, and King County’s Zero Youth Detention/ Public Health team. Beloved taps local creative talent to bring into focus the systemic causes of community-based gun violence and amplify the voices of those working on treatments and prevention.

Weaving arts and culture and economic development policies together holds tremendous potential to move the needle in strengthening the fabric of Greater Cleveland.

A ordable housing is an issue that has impacted creatives being displaced out of rapidly developing neighborhoods that artists initially helped make attractive. Artists and art organizations are important stakeholders that need to be involved in the development

of new a ordable housing policies.

Seattle has created Arts & Cultural Districts, dedicated to nurturing and protecting the presence of arts and culture in neighborhoods. ese new standards have been shown to increase walkability, vitality and regional focus. e city's mission in creating these districts is to ensure that the organizations and individuals that give these unique neighborhoods their verve remain healthy and vibrant for future generations. We at the George Gund Foundation value the integral role that arts and culture play in making Cleveland an intriguing, welcoming and exceptional place to live. Artistic expression in its many forms helps us make sense of our world and broaden our experience and understanding of it.

Cleveland is at an exciting juncture where we can nally begin to integrate the rich, creative thought processes that make our art community so vibrant into the policies that the city, and hopefully the county, is implementing to improve our region.

A thriving arts scene doesn’t happen by chance: You need a plan

In its exploration of Northeast Ohio’s arts and culture ecosystem, Crain’s is tackling a topic that resonates across the nation. Communities from coast to coast are struggling to forge post-pandemic avenues to prosperity. Yet in this national landscape, Akron stands in an extraordinary position, armed with a comprehensive road map for its future: the Akron/Summit Cultural Plan.

Forged by our community and brought to life through our collective e ort, the plan serves as the North Star for residents, organizations and businesses, detailing how we can amplify our assets and fully harness our cultural excellence to forge a vibrant future. e plan’s implementation began in 2020, recently gaining added momentum through the philanthropy-driven ArtsForward funding program that will award dollars to residents who present excellent ideas to implement the Akron/Summit Cultural Plan.

e pool of innovative ideas is deep; local artists and nonpro ts presented grants totaling over $2.1 million to kick o the work.

Positioned at the intersection of cultural

richness and strategic planning, Akron stands ready to become a destination for businesses and the essential workforce they covet. Anchored by our vibrant arts and culture community, we have an opportunity to elevate our appeal to current and future residents. However, this potential necessitates more than words — it demands action.

Richard Kramer, CEO of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, captured the imperative we face in his speech to the Akron Roundtable earlier this month: “What we have to do is recognize that the world is changing and we all need to make sure that we’re creating an environment that continues to attract people to want to come here.” is statement, in response to a question posed as to what Akron can do for Goodyear, underlines the urgency of the opportunity relative to arts and culture facing our community.

e magic of Akron’s potential lies with our collective ability to make good on the community’s priorities and learn from others who have leveraged the arts alongside an a ordable cost of living. Cleveland, Co-

lumbus and Pittsburgh, as highlighted by Kramer, have made remarkable strides in becoming cultural magnets and havens for diverse, innovative people. Mid-sized cities like Ann Arbor, Boulder and Santa Fe have similarly harnessed the power of arts and culture to attract residents and visitors.

A common thread binds these cities together: they consistently invest in arts and culture, along with initiatives, as key compo-

workforce, people choosing a retirement destination, families of all sizes and shapes — does not reside solely in the number of potholes it lls, but also in the quality of life it provides for residents of all ages and backgrounds. Engagement in the arts transcends demographics, forging connections among diverse populations.

nents of community solutions. By nurturing a vibrant arts scene, they’ve not only emerged as tourist destinations but have also secured their positions as places where people of all walks of life want to be. And in a world where you can increasingly live and work anywhere, these assets are no longer “nice to have” but vital to the future viability of cities.

A region’s ability to attract and retain population — emerging and established

It’s the harmony of a community choir, the energy of a bustling farmers’ market, the inspiration of an outdoor mural. It’s the tapestry of shared experiences and connection. When aging adults nd solace in creative expression, when young minds are ignited by artistic discovery, when artists can access the resources and tools they need to thrive, we build the magnetic community that attracts talent of all ages.

By embracing arts and culture as a cornerstone of our planning, we signal to the world that our community values creativity, inclusivity and a shared sense of purpose. In the pursuit of attracting and retaining talent, fostering a vibrant quality of life and cultivating a future we can be proud of, the integration of arts and culture isn’t just an option — it’s an imperative.

Nicole Mullet is executive director of ArtsNow.

Jennifer Coleman is the program director for creative culture and arts at the George Gund Foundation.

Art should be integrated into every aspect of our civic life

Art installations stand in front of an entrance to Westlake Station in Seattle. The city has created Arts & Cultural Districts, to nurture arts in neighborhoods. | BLOOMBERG

Anchored by our vibrant arts and culture community, we have an opportunity to elevate our appeal to current and future residents.

100 LARGEST NORTHEAST OHIO EMPLOYERS CRAIN'S LIST |

100 LARGEST NORTHEAST OHIO EMPLOYERS CRAIN'S LIST |

CRAIN'S LIST |

100 LARGEST NORTHEAST OHIO EMPLOYERS

100 LARGEST NORTHEAST OHIO EMPLOYERS CRAIN'S LIST |

Ranked by full-time equivalent employees in Northeast Ohio

Informationisfromtheorganization,includingwebsitesandpublic lings,unlessotherwisenoted.Topreventties, rmswiththesamenumberoflocalemployeesarethenrankedbytotalsta .Listedcitiesinmostcasesrepresentthelocationofthe organization's primary local o ce, though a few organizations headquartered elsewhere list cities outside Northeast Ohio. In a few cases the local executive listed oversees the local operation but is not based locally.

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PARKING

From Page 6

In Cleveland, however, the average wait time for a variance is 12 weeks. Further, the decrease in housing units caused by parking mandates results in a smaller customer base for local retailers and service providers. Plus, studies have shown that customers who arrive at local businesses by walking or biking spend 5% to 10% more than those arriving by car (an e ect with a lot of causes, but small businesses make more money regardless.) Finally, parking requirements just make our streets more miserable. For drivers, an oversupply of parking creates more tra c congestion due to induced demand. Many people who would happily bike, walk or take transit to a destination will instead drive because of the oversupply of parking. is also means mandated parking suppresses those

SOLON

From Page 1

company’s chief people o cer. “So we believe in real estate. We believe very strongly that real estate plays an important part in communities and bringing people together to live, work and play.”

Second, she said, gathering in person is essential to MRI’s culture. e growing software rm has about 540 employees in Solon and 3,300 globally. Its headquarters isn’t just a local workplace. It’s also a hub for sales meetings, summer internships and, increasingly, global strategy sessions.

“We just had a class of 53 interns over the summer and they absolutely loved the space, which is amazing because this is the future of our talent,” Avelluto said.

MRI, founded in 1971, provides property management software and other tech products for the real estate industry. e company moved into its Solon headquarters, a former warehouse at 28925 Fountain Parkway, in 2012.

Over time, MRI has transformed the building into a modern workplace, with an indoor walking track, collaboration areas, a café, a gym and high-tech conference facilities. ere’s an outdoor pavilion for team-building events, cookouts and happy hours.

And, of course, there’s a removable pickleball court.

An investor group led by local real estate brokers Rico Pietro and Jason Laver bought the property in late July, paying $5.7 million. e seller, MRI’s former landlord, was a company tied to the Sedlak family of Sedlak Interiors, a Solon-based furniture retailer.

“We were kind of wowed by just the aesthetics of the real estate,” said Pietro, a principal with Cushman & Wake eld-Cresco

Real Estate in Independence.

“Clearly, there’s a negative stigma to o ce right now,” he added. “But we just like the fundamentals of really great real estate that matches the brand of the occupier. at allowed us to see past what we see as a temporary overreaction to work-from-home and a temporary overreaction to the credit markets being somewhat soft or down on o ce space.”

e new owners are planning signi cant investments in the building — upgrades that MRI views as critical to its tenure there. e project, with an estimated cost of $2.1 million based on public records, will include a better roof, more e cient heating and cooling equipment, exterior lighting, electric vehicle charging stations and a repaved parking lot.

Solon will pick up $45,000 of that tab through a grant program that reimburses property owners or businesses for xing up buildings.

“When this group approached us, we took it very seriously and wanted to do whatever we could to cooperate and help,” said Angee Shaker, the city’s economic development director.

MRI has roughly doubled the size of its headquarters sta since the company moved to Solon from Highland Hills, in a deal that garnered job-creation tax credits from the city and the state. And the company has increased its global headcount by 1,000 people over the last 12 to 18 months alone, Avelluto said, through a combination of acquisitions and internal growth.

“In this economic environment, we’ve slowed down hiring a bit,” she acknowledged. “But when I look over the long-term, absolutely, we will continue to grow.”

Laver, a Cresco senior vice president, said he and Pietro would have bought the Fountain Parkway building no matter what

MRI decided to do.

ey saw abundant potential in the space, a speculative warehouse developed by Duke Realty Corp. in 2002. e building later served as a corporate headquarters for Agilysys Inc., an information technology company that left Solon for Georgia.

“It’s ultimately a Class A industrial building,” Laver said, noting that the ceiling is high enough to accommodate a 28-foot-tall stack of products — a key feature for industrial users.

But, he added, “we found out very quickly that there was an opportunity to retain the tenant if we were able to be sympathetic to their needs and x some of the things that were perceived as aws with the building for them.”

So far, Avelluto said, the new ownership group has been “incredible.”

After swinging to remote work during the pandemic, MRI now requires its sta to come into the o ce twice a week. Many headquarters workers are showing up more often, thanks to on-site activities, social gatherings and team meetings, Avelluto said.

e company still o ers — and talks up — exibility. A program called Flexi Anydays lets employees take up to 2.5 hours o their day, six times a year, in addition to their vacation time. Another program, Flexi Anywhere, allows employees to work remotely for up to two weeks.

But shifting work patterns ultimately weren’t enough to make MRI slash its real estate footprint. at gives real estate professionals like Pietro and Laver reason for optimism.

“ is is a workforce where, when you walk through the building, it makes most people feel pretty old,” Laver said. “ ere’s a lot of 20s and 30s that are sitting in the seats. I think it’s signi cant. . . .A lot of these are traditionally tech people. ey can work anywhere.”

active transportation modes and makes them harder and more expensive to provide for those who prefer them (or cannot drive).

Creek Golf Course on 2 parcels of land with tennis court, deck overlooking a 30’x50’ 68,000 gallon kidney shaped in ground pool with pool house. The home offers 5 bedrooms, 6 baths, 3 fireplaces, , theatre room, and 1300 sqft. heated indoor 16’x32’ 17,000-gallon pool addition w/new liner. Preview property online marcoauction.com auctionzip. com Auction ID 30035 Call Auctioneer Marco Marinucci at 440-487-1878

Easing the burden of costly parking mandates is no panacea, but it is an important intervention. e bene ts to housing a ordability, local businesses and transportation equity make Cleveland’s efforts worthwhile. With costly mandates relaxed, Cleveland neighborhoods will gain from lowered expenses and higher investment. Parking will still be plentiful, and we could build the kinds of things that people want, along the routes where people most often travel.

PLACE YOUR AD TODAY

MRI Software has signed a long-term lease renewal on its Solon headquarters after considering whether to downsize or move. An investor group bought the building for $5.7 million in late July and has committed to making signi cant upgrades. | COSTAR GROUP

Easing the burden of costly parking mandates is no panacea, but it is an important intervention.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

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FINANCIAL SERVICES

Ancora

Ancora is happy to announce that Nick Jacobs has been promoted to a Vice President and Equity Analyst. Nick joined the rm in 2018 and primarily supports the Dividend Value Equity strategy, while also supporting the research needs of Ancora’s Family Wealth division. Prior to Ancora, Nick held various internships and work-study placements where he performed nancial research and analysis. He graduated from the University of Dayton, earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Ancora

We are happy to announce that Louis Preseren, CFP® has joined Ancora’s headquarters as an Assistant Vice President of Financial Planning. Louis is responsible for supporting the rm’s wealth planning department. Prior to Ancora, Louis worked as a wealth management analyst for Capital Advisors Ltd. He also has experience with Carver Financial Services as a client service associate. Louis earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Financial Planning from the University of Akron.

FINANCIAL SERVICES

Glenmede

Glenmede is proud to welcome Michael A. Simmons! Building on over 30 years of industry experience, Mike will serve as a Wealth Advisor based out of our Cleveland of ce. He will be providing our clients with wealth management advice, solutions for duciary, charitable, nancial and wealth transfer planning and trust and account administration.

LAW

McDonald Hopkins

McDonald Hopkins is proud to welcome Jennifer Phillips as a Member in the rm’s Litigation Department and Labor and Employment Practice Group in Cleveland. Jennifer has extensive experience successfully managing complex legal and business risks, both for clients and as in-house counsel. Her expertise and practice focus on labor and employment counseling, litigation, and dispute resolution for businesses in a wide range of industries. CORPORATE

COMPANIES ON THE MOVE

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PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

RSM US LLP

We are please to announce Amanda Davis has been promoted to Director in the rm’s Financial Consulting Department. Amanda is a John Carroll University graduate and has been at RSM since 2014 serving clients across multiple industries including health care, real estate, and not for pro ts and focusing on technical accounting matters such as implementation of various accounting standards. In addition to the technical side, Amanda is actively involved in different stewardship initiatives.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

RSM US LLP

We are pleased to announce that Tammy Greber, CPA has been promoted to Tax Managing Director. She has 30 years’ experience working with real estate developers, owners and operators, homebuilders, hospitality companies, closely held family businesses, partnership taxation including compliance, exit strategies, historic tax credits, quali ed opportunity zones and various partnership transactions. She is a board member in NAIOP, Lorain County Health & Dentistry and past treasurer of CREW.

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898 Marketing Can eld, OH 330.423.6420

898marketing.com

898 Marketing, a full-service strategic and integrated marketing agency based in the Mahoning Valley, completed a transaction to acquire Youngstown Marketing Company (YMC) and DOYO Live, both formerly owned by Dennis Schiraldi. Among the terms, Schiraldi will join 898 Marketing in a business development and account service capacity.

YMC specialized in lead generation and business growth through digital and traditional marketing strategy, day-to-day management, creative services and advertising.

Founded in 2014, 898 Marketing provides strategic planning, creative development, and integrated communication serving local, regional, national and international clients. 898 Marketing is listed among Crain’s “Best Employers in Ohio.”

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Oatey Co. (Oatey), a leader in the plumbing industry since 1916, recently announced the acquisition of Lansas B.V. (Lansas), a manufacturer and distributor of underground pipe and disc plugs based in Eijsden, Netherlands.

“For decades, Oatey has been a leader in the U.S. waterworks pipe plug market under our Cherne brand,” said Oatey CEO Neal Restivo.

“The addition of Lansas, its outstanding employees, its advanced technology, and its manufacturing footprint well positions us to grow our presence in the European waterworks market. Utilizing the combined experience and expertise of Cherne and Lansas will signi cantly enhance our ability to serve our customers in Europe.”

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Its associates often stay with the company for decades, if not their entire careers. None have ever been laid o , even during the worst recessions.

e company in the past has been exceptionally quiet. Today, though, Swagelok is heavily engaged in outreach, communications and engagement — all around what executives say is possibly the most important factor in the company’s future success: its people.

Swagelok isn’t short of them, and it never wants to be. So, it’s engaged on a top-to-bottom e ort of what it calls “employer branding” to ensure that young people and others don’t overlook manufacturing as a viable career, or Swagelok as a place to start, foster and maybe even complete that career.

When the company was asked for an interview to discuss this, Kathy Walters, its senior manager of employer brand, o ered up four employees working on the e ort. Among them were Mandy Matousek, who joined the company in 2021 as director of talent management and employer brand, and President and Chief Operating O cer Jim Cavoli.

People are critical to Swagelok’s business, Cavoli said, so it needs to nd the best and take good care of them. Like other manufacturers, it takes good care of its expensive equipment — it should take even better care of its people, Cavoli gures.

“It’s our concern for our associates” that drives the e ort, Cavoli said. “It’s associates rst, here, pretty much always.”

He said he hasn’t had to push his people to accept that. ey do it naturally.

When Swagelok opens a new facility, for instance, the managers involved look at the people who will be working there. If the new location adds to their commute, they’re asked if that’s OK, or if they’d prefer a closer location, Cavoli said.

“If someone is being displaced too much, we’ll nd something else for them,” Cavoli said. “ ey’re not just cogs in a wheel.”

Cavoli and others say Swagelok has always shown its associates such consideration.

What is fairly new is the company’s outreach e ort to show more potential employees what it does, how it operates, how it treats its people and, most importantly, how they might nd their own careers with the company.

Walters does that with a team of people that includes Mandy Matousek, Swagelok’s director for talent management and employer brand.

“I came in 2021 and this is really the only Swagelok that I know,” said Matousek, who spent about 10 years as an HR executive before nding her current role.

Matousek works on a multipronged e ort to get the word out about careers at Swagelok through traditional advertising on radio, TV and online, by partnering with local media — WKYC’s Betsy Kling did a special on STEM education from Swagelok’s headquarters

earlier this year — and by working directly with local educators from area high schools and colleges.

“We’re driving the broader awareness of who we are,” Matousek said. “One area we’ve been focused on is our total rewards offerings. In today’s world it (compensation) goes beyond a paycheck.”

So you might see Swagelok messages about its tuition reimbursement, its e orts to provide exible scheduling whenever possible, or how it supports its associates’ volunteer work or matches gifts to nonpro ts they might work with.

ose messages ring true with candidates who might have worked in other careers or at companies with fewer such bene ts, and with students contemplating their rst jobs, Matousek said.

In terms of working with students and schools, much of that work is done by Bill Swan, a 33year Swagelok veteran with experience across various functions at the company who is now a talent program specialist working in community engagement at the company.

Swan works with schools and other youth programs across Northeast Ohio.

He’s promoting more than just Swagelok, he said — something others at the company echoed. Swan said he’s also helping schools get students interested in STEM education generally, and

also in getting them and their families and teachers more willing to look at manufacturing as the viable career it’s been for him and others. After all, they said, Swagelok has a lot of local partners it wants to see succeed, too.

“Whether its curriculum development, how they can develop labs or internships and experiential workplace learning,” Swan said, he’ll work with as many schools and other organizations as he can.

“I work with second and third grade Girl Scouts on STEM,” he added.

A big part of that is internships, and Swan said Swagelok has embraced them as a way to introduce students to what it does and show them that manufacturing today is often done in clean, safe and sophisticated high-tech environments that look little to nothing like the factories their parents or grandparents might have worked in.

e internships go a long way, he said, but they also show how Swagelok has become more exible to attract the people it needs.

Ten years ago, when Swan started working with Auburn Schools and the Polaris Career Center in Middleburg Heights, the schools wanted internships that didn’t yet exist, he said.

“ ey wanted to bring students in and I was like ‘I don’t know, let me check.’ We’d never had anyone

than one-third of Mentor high school seniors are enrolled in career technical training.

“For the rst time in our history we have a wait list for the manufacturing program. A big part of that is due to Roger Sustar and what he’s done with AWT,” Glavan said.

But Swagelok also has been accepted by students and become an important source of both training and jobs, Glavan said. And students enrolled in internships or career technical training are having little to no trouble nding good jobs, he said.

“We’ve found 98.25% of students are enrolled, enlisted or employed six months after graduation,” Swan said. “We follow up with them to see how they’re doing.”

Glavan said he values the e orts of everyone who helps his students. But Swagelok has taken on a larger role in recent years.

“ e big thing that Swagelok is doing that we’re really appreciative for is that they’re willing to provide the (internship) opportunity for our students,” Glavan said. “You know, it’s not an easy thing for a business to have a 16- or 17-year-old student who’s new to the profession come into that manufacturing environment.”

So, why is Swagelok, and others, making this huge e ort?

For one thing, they say, workers have become harder to nd in recent years. And skilled professionals, such as machinists, have become especially rare, creating a dire need to recruit and train more of them.

under 18 in our facilities,” Swan said.

But he said Swagelok executives embraced the idea and came up with ways to have students safely attend internships at the company.

“We’ve never looked back,’ Swan said, noting that he’s dramatically expanded the schools he works with and has brought in more than 50 student interns in just the last two years.

ese students get to work closely with experienced machinist and other experts at the company, as well as to experience the plant oor rsthand as they gauge their interest in manufacturing and in working at Swagelok specifically, and most of them choose to work at the company after they graduate, Swan said.

Joe Glavan works with Swan and Swagelok a lot in his roles as director of business partnerships and career technical education for Mentor Public Schools and the Lake Shore Compact that includes the Euclid, Mentor and Wickli e school systems. He said what the company does is invaluable. He said Lake County has a history of manufacturers supporting schools and students. Longtime local manufacturer Roger Sustar, for example, fostered the Alliance for Working Together to support robotics competitions and other e orts.

anks to such e orts, more

en, there’s the promise of more demand on the horizon. Executives at Swagelok and other places expect a lot of manufacturing to return to the U.S. in the coming years.

“As those jobs come back we want them to come back to where they used to be — right here in and around Cleveland,” Cavoli said. “It would be a horrible shame of those jobs came back to other regions after leaving here.”

Meanwhile, big projects such as Intel’s chip plant near Columbus, for which Swagelok will be a major supplier, are also expected to create additional demand for manufacturers.

Swagelok, which employs about 5,700 people globally, with most of them in Solon and nearly all of them in Northeast Ohio, is going to need a lot more people, said Ashely Rini, senior manager for corporate strategic planning.

“Our goal right now is (to hire) about 1,000 people a year across all areas, that’s probably high but maybe 800 to 1,000,” Rini said. “We’ve seen substantial growth since 2020.”

e outreach, advertising, internships and other e orts are paying o though, she said. Last year, Swagelok hired an all-time record of more than 1,500 new employees, Rini said.

It’s hoping to continue to hire more in the years ahead, she said, and thinks it will need all it can get.

“We’re nothing without our people,” Rini said. “ at’s why Swagelok makes an e ort to take care of them.”

Swagelok supervisor Jeremy Hostetler works with students at a Tri-C robotics camp. | CONTRIBUTED

Area Girl Scouts get a presentation on manufacturing at Swagelok’s headquarters in Solon. | CONTRIBUTED

PRIVATE SCHOOL PLANNER

YOUR GUIDE TO NORTHEAST OHIO SCHOOLS

2023

In this issue:

• STEM skills for a bright future

• Lowering barriers to entry

• Learning for life, not just school

• Helping students forge their own paths

Understanding the investment

Private schools tackle enrollment challenges by promoting unique bene ts, positive outcomes

By Vince Guerrieri

During and immediately following the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, many private schools saw a bump in enrollment, as parents saw the value of what smaller private schools had to o er.

But the biggest challenge to enrollment now is the same as it was before the pandemic: its expense.

“ e question I get from a lot of families is, ‘I want my daughter to go here, but how do I make that a ordable?’” said Nikki Mohar, director of enrollment at Magni cat, an all-girls Catholic high school in Rocky River. “We realize that’s a sacri ce, but there is assistance available. We want every girl who wants a Magni cat education to be able to get one.”

In addition to o ering a variety of meritand need-based nancial assistance, many private schools are making it a point to market the services and results of their schools – as well as the value that can come from them.

“It’s a sacri ce, but we also believe it’s an incredible value,” says David Stec, president of Padua Franciscan High School in Parma, where tuition is $14,100 annually. “We see it as an investment on both sides. We want to invest in our students to make the world a better place, but we know that parents want to invest in their children.”

Stec estimates that 70 percent of Padua students receive some type of nancial aid, no small feat for a school that was founded by an order, the Franciscans, and not the Diocese of Cleveland.

“We are ultimately on our own to create our opportunities to raise money,” he said. “We work hard. We engage alumni and engage in fundraising. We have to rely on those pieces to ll the gap between the cost of tuition and the cost of education. We need corporate sponsors and foundations who appreciate Catholic education.”

In turn, Stec said Padua is able to sell parents and students on the value of education there.

“What we’re o ering to families is something everyone is looking for. We have great outcomes,” Stec said, noting that the Padua class of 2023, which had 177 graduates, received a total of $23 million

Magni cat offers shadowing days to show prospective students the advantages a private learning environment can provide.

“It’s a sacri ce, but we also believe it’s an incredible value.”

-David Stec, president of Padua Franciscan High School

This advertising-supported section/feature is produced by Crain’s Content Studio-Cleveland, the marketing storytelling arm of Crain’s Cleveland Business. The Crain’s Cleveland Business newsroom is not involved in creating Crain’s Content Studio content.

in non-need-based nancial aid for their educations beyond college.

Preparing students for the next step is also key at Cleveland Central Catholic High School in Slavic Village. President John Simon (himself an alumnus) said that the school serves families at or below 250 percent of the poverty line (for a family of four, that would be an annual income of $66,250). He also noted ruefully that enrollment declined in no small part because of the pandemic. Prior to COVID-19, enrollment was 543, near the top of the school’s capacity. Last year’s enrollment was 430.

“Some of our students just disappeared,” Simon says. “ ey didn’t transfer. ey just dropped out.

“We know who we are, and we know who we serve. We try to be true to that mission.”

One of the selling points at Beaumont School, an all-girls school founded by the Ursuline sisters, a Catholic order, is its International Baccalaureate curriculum, a rigorous international curriculum developed to o er a standardized worldwide diploma. It’s available in several schools throughout Northeast Ohio, but Beaumont is the only all-girls school to o er it. In fact, single-sex education is another selling point.

“What we o er is a unique experience for young women,” said Beaumont enrollment director Jennifer Nye. “During the school day, it’s all about how young women learn and lead. Many students come from coed school, and this is a new experience for them to get to learn in an all-girls community, and that’s empowering for them in some respects. It’s de nitely something that draws families in.”

Preparing the next generation for success

Helping students develop critical workforce skills through STEM

By Kathy Ames Carr

e pillars of science, technology, engineering and math are rooted in a student’s educational experience at Hershey Montessori School, beginning from infancy through 12th grade. Babies and young children learn through a blend of indoor and outdoor environments, where play areas and green spaces inspire a holistic approach to childhood development that is a hallmark of a Montessori education.

“One of the rst lessons students learn in elementary school is the story of carbon, the formation of earth and science and the giver of all life,” said Paula Leigh-Doyle, Hershey Montessori’s head of school. “By adolescence, students are developing a systems-based thinking approach through the lens of a working farm that integrates experiential natural science, technology, engineering and math, along with history, humanities and other themes. ey learn about the economic systems of society and culture, including growing and selling organic food and ecology.”

And that mission includes preparing students for education and jobs a er high school, not necessarily college. e school is a liated with the Cleveland Clinic’s Aspire program, giving students insight into jobs in nursing and medical technology, as well as a partnership with Cuyahoga Community College that can lead to apprenticeships and careers in the building trades.

“We are focused on doing a better job to explain these programs that can mean lucrative, in-demand careers beyond high school,” Simon said. “We think that’s attractive to parents who aren’t necessarily in a position to fund a four-year college.”

“Our goal is to have every graduate have a clear plan on what’s ahead of them,” he added. “I don’t want anyone in this school to leave unsure of what they’re going to do next.”

Nye said Beaumont has made enrollment growth a priority, and has seen results. e 2022-23 school year had 292 students, an increase of 2 percent over the previous year. And this year is projected for 3.5 percent growth, with an enrollment of 302 and counting. To that end, the school o ers shadow days, emphasizing the experience of being a Beaumont student and showcasing the sense of belonging that students have identi ed as their reason for coming to Beaumont.

Mohar said that shadowing days, available three days a week in the fall and weekly a er the new year, are also important for prospective Magn cat students, to demonstrate what a welcoming place the school can be.

“A girl will know a er her shadow day if she wants to be here,” she says.

e dynamic environment fosters curiosity, active learning, problem-solving and analytical and creative thinking. Real-world experiences enhance foundational skills as learning progresses.

is upcoming school year, students will explore the opportunities and challenges of water and population growth. e project will involve consultations with communitybased subject matter experts, such as soil scientists and nutritionists.

“ e Montessori experience supports students who learn through collaboration, independent reasoning, a love of discovery and a love of learning,” Leigh-Doyle said. “Our educational model prepares students for a workforce that prioritizes essential skills for success in STEM and other subject areas.”

(Continued on next page)

Cleveland Central Catholic High School prioritizes preparing its students for success later in life and proudly serves families at or below the federal poverty line.

Employment in STEM occupations is expected to increase by 10.8% between 2021 to 2031, which is twice the rate of increase among all occupations, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. STEM occupations command higher earning power, with the median annual wage in 2021 at $95,420, more than double the 2021 average of $45,760 among all occupations. ese jobs require speci c skill sets (see sidebar). Indeed, 44% of workers’ core skills are expected to change over the next ve years, according to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs 2023 report.

Local private schools say their STEM programs are reinforced with a blend of theoretical and experiential approaches that prepares students with a bandwidth of critical skills to ful ll future workforce needs.

Acquiring real-world experience

St. Ignatius High School provides several opportunities for students to participate in an immersive STEM experience, including internship opportunities at medical o ces, lectures from world-class medical professionals, hands-on clinical work and service learning.

A new, state-of-the-art Health Sciences Simulation Lab exposes students to various elds in health sciences and medical-related elds.

“ e lab includes a full-scale Anatomage 3D dissecting table, manikins to perform intubation and CPR, an area for laparoscopy surgical training and suturing stations,” said Jerome DeCarlo, Science Department chair. “We also o er a large-scale maker space for ne arts. Students can create 3D castings of artistic work using plastics or ceramics.

ey can design functional pottery with 3D machines, which combines science, technology, engineering, art and math.”

e interest in the school’s NASA capstone program has taken o . Two years ago, there was one NASA capstone team. Five NASA capstone teams formed this past school year to develop projects based on the space agency’s mission goals. One project explored power management. Others involved the

TOP JOB SKILLS IN 2023

The top ve professional skills needed in 2023, according to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs 2023 report, are: 1. Analytical thinking 2. Creative thinking 3.

lunar rover wheel designs and acoustic chambers in rockets.

“At the end of the capstone, students present their projects to NASA Glenn Research Center engineers,” DeCarlo said.

Lake Ridge Academy’s STEM program is interwoven into a hands-on curriculum with language arts, social studies, the arts, library, physical education and languages.

“Our model emphasizes iterative thinking, collaborative problem-solving and impactful experiential learning,” said Patrick Smith, a science teacher at the Upper School, whose STEM programs arm students with rigorous and specialized coursework and skills.

To demonstrate subject mastery and distinguish themselves in the college application process, Upper School students can pursue a graduate certi cate through di erent programs that emphasize STEM, including:

• Institute for Engineering and Innovation

• Institute for Scienti c Research

• School of Fine Arts

“Students create and problem-solve. We see remarkable innovation,” Smith said. For example, one student analyzed the degree of oxidative stress relative to the amount of a mouse’s screen time exposure, he said.

“Another student made what is called ‘a computerized equatorial telescope mount,’ which is a multiaxial tracking device allowing the capture of long-exposure astrophotography,” he said.

A community-driven learning approach For the last 15 years, Hawken School students have had the opportunity to engage in beforeand-a er school co-curriculars, internships and scienti c research in STEMM (science, technology, engineering, math and medicine). Students have participated in international, regional and state competitions and have garnered top awards and scholarships for their projects. ey’ve published research in scienti c journals and/or presented their research at scienti c conferences.

STEMM will take on a more mainstream focus throughout the K-12 curriculum, said Dr. Lacy Chick, director of STEMM, a new role at Hawken.

“Over the next few years, we will be rolling out more programs tied to STEMM,” Chick said. “We also are committed to generating more excitement about STEMM beginning in the younger grades.”

School o cials hope integrating STEMM within the curriculum at all education stages also can encourage more diversity and help reverse the “leaky pipeline” trend. is metaphor describes how women and individuals from minority groups are underrepresented in STEM elds.

“STEMM is central to our mastery learning philosophy,” Chick said. “Students are developing real-world experience and transferrable skills that can positively impact any eld. Our model depends on a community-driven learning approach in which we work with many community partners and mentors. Our students want to make their mark by making the world a better place.”

Lake Ridge Academy’s STEM program is interwoven into a hands-on curriculum with language arts, social studies, the arts, library, physical education and languages.

Offering opportunities for everyone

How Greater Cleveland’s private schools are lowering barriers to entry

education are worth exploring, and there are many strategies, programs and options available to make a private school education a reality for families. Several Cleveland-area schools are seeking to reduce the nancial obstacles associated with private education and support families as they pursue a new educational path.

O ering a highly personalized experience is paramount at Gilmour Academy, with average class sizes of just 15 students and a host of courses that cover a wide range of subjects. DeCrane emphasizes that there is a place for everyone in the Gilmour community, and that the school utilizes its resources to provide a top-notch experience for all students.

based academic scholarships up to $8,000. Walsh Jesuit High School promotes academic excellence, spiritual growth, and care for the whole person by providing a community where students can thrive. Annually, more than 99% of its graduates are admitted to colleges and universities around the world, and the school wants families to feel con dent that they can expect to have consistent nancial aid for the duration of their attendance.

By Laura Hennigan

Private school education has long been thought of as something that only a select group of people could a ord. Many families know their children would thrive in smaller classroom settings that o er more holistic learning opportunities, but the accompanying price tag is o en too large of a barrier. Particularly in this postpandemic world, families are discovering that their children need more individualized attention in the classroom, or that they thrive when provided with the engaging, impactful learning experiences that are not o en easily found in public schools.

“One visit to our campus is all it takes to witness the transformational educational experience our students receive,” says Dan DeCrane, director of admission at the Gilmour Academy. “ ey are wholly engaged in their studies and their co-curriculars thanks to our incredible faculty. ey are performing on the stage and in the athletic arenas in some of the best facilities in the state. ey have access to opportunities in and out of the classroom that help them discover their talents and pursue their passions. And they are surrounded by peers and adults who truly know them, care about them and help them become the best versions of themselves.”

While public schools are a good option for some, the unique bene ts of a private school

“ rough our generous tuition assistance program, Gilmour partners with families to help make the Gilmour experience a reality,” he says. “We are committed to enrolling students from a diverse range of socioeconomic backgrounds and have families at every income level receiving assistance because each family’s circumstances are unique. Gilmour Academy awarded $10.5 million dollars in tuition assistance to students in Grades K-12 for the 2022-2023 school year.”

In Lakewood, St. Edward High School wants to provide all students the chance to develop their talents and achieve their personal goals through the school’s rigorous academics, award-winning arts programs and championship athletics.

“At the end of four years at St. Ed’s, our students have grown in their faith, achieved personal excellence in multiple endeavors, developed lifelong relationships with their classmates, teachers and coaches, and are prepared to go out into the world focused on how they can use their gi s and talents to serve others,” shares president K.C. McKenna.

St. Edward has prioritized the growth of its endowment to support tuition assistance, and has been very proactive in lobbying for the expansion of state vouchers in order to help make the school more a ordable for families across Northeast Ohio. is includes providing nearly $5 million in nancial aid and scholarships, as well as opportunities for students to earn merit-

“Each year Walsh Jesuit awards more than $3.5M in scholarships, grants, and needbased aid,” said vice president of admissions Jason Ruegg. “As a provider for the Ohio EdChoice program and having been designated a state-approved Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO) we are also able to work in partnership with the state of Ohio in providing access to funding through that programming.”

Founded in 1896, the Laurel School in Shaker Heights is proud to be an inclusive and equitable school community. is includes a commitment to enrolling academically quali ed students with a wide range of nancial circumstances. Laurel School o ers Variable Tuition, wherein tuition rates are customized according to each family’s ability to contribute to their educational expenses. e school looks at a number of factors when determining nancial aid, including family size and other determinants that are not necessarily re ected in household income numbers.

Kate Floyd, director of marketing, shares that Laurel also “o ers a variety of scholarships for prospective students entering Grades K-12. In addition to assistance with tuition, Laurel also has the Helping Hands Fund to support students receiving tuition assistance with incidental, but critical expenses they may not otherwise be able to a ord.”

While the idea of private school tuition might dissuade some families from considering this route as a viable option, it is worth learning more about the numerous nancial aid options available to you. e advantages of a private education, including smaller class sizes, greater dynamic experiences, and deeper, more meaningful connections, o en far outweigh the costs.

Gilmour Academy works closely with families to provide nancial assistance and make private education accessible for all.

Coding, robotics, algorithms: How Hathaway Brown is leading in computer science education

The school offers robust CS curriculum as part of “Learn for Life” approach

By Sara McCarthy

In today’s world of rapid technological advancements, educators are asking: what should we do now to give students the skills they’ll need to be successful in work and life in the not-too-distant future?

Administrators and teachers at Hathaway Brown (HB), the oldest and top-ranked all-girls school in Ohio, have answered that question, in part, by building a robust computer science (CS) curriculum. HB is also among the rst schools in Ohio to include a CS component in its graduation requirements. is makes HB a trailblazer when it comes to CS education in Ohio and beyond.

“A student’s ability to use technology strategically is now identi ed as foundational and just as important as mathematics and English language arts, from which all other learning is built,” said Valerie Yarmesch, the computer science department chair at HB. “Our approach is unique because we have a dedicated time each week to computer science. And it starts in kindergarten.”

While the Ohio Department of Education has adopted learning standards for CS, the state does not recognize it as a core subject and schools are not required to o er CS curricula. Ohio is not alone. Many states and countries have been slow to adopt CS curriculum even amid recognition of its growing importance.

According to a 2020 Brookings report, “multiple studies indicate that CS education can help students beyond computing. CS education has been linked with higher rates of college enrollment and improved problem-solving abilities. CS education promises to signi cantly enhance student preparedness for the future of work and active citizenship.”

Computer science is distinct from learning about the general use of computers and programs, like performing an internet search or creating a digital presentation. While these computer literacy skills are complementary, computer science focuses more on logical reasoning, data and

analysis, algorithms and programming, the impacts of computing and structured problem-solving skills applicable to a variety of elds, careers and life experiences.

e move to expose HB students to more computational thinking and problem solving at all grade levels began about a decade ago when the school developed a course called Exploring Computer Science and made it a requirement for graduation. Students take the rst half of the course in 7th grade and the second half in 8th grade (if they enter HB in high school, students take the course then). HB has since expanded its CS o erings to include Programming Interactive Media, two APlevel CS courses and Post-AP CS. HB also supports an all-girls chapter of a computer science honor society and, for the last several years, has hosted an annual computer programming competition called BYTE (Bring Your Tech Expertise) for students across Northeast Ohio and beyond.

“It’s the way the world is going,” he said. “What happens to data, where does it go? What does it do? How do you manage huge chunks of data and nd patterns?”

ese are questions the course will explore while digging into very speci c projectbased examples, Buescher said, unpacking, for instance, how Spotify uses the data it collects on users of its platform to make song recommendations.

Of the nearly 900 K-12 students at HB, Yarmesch estimates about a third take a CS course beyond the requirement. And that number is growing every year.

“ e students who have started in kindergarten and early on like computer science and see a connection to their future,” she says. “Computer science (is a skill) you will use in all sorts of elds. … Our motto is we learn not for school but for life.”

At the same time, Yarmesch is acutely aware that women, particularly minority women, are extremely underrepresented in CS-related elds, so giving HB students exposure to coding and new technologies is critical to fostering greater equity in the future workforce.

New for the ‘23 – ‘24 school year is a data science course that is several years in the making, said Michael Buescher, a mathematics and computer science teacher in HB’s Upper School.

“Just being able to provide these opportunities for all our students regardless of what their background is, is really important,” she said.

Of nearly 900 K-12 students at Hathaway Brown, nearly a third elect to take a computer science course beyond the requirement.

“Computer science (is a skill) you will use in all sorts of elds. … Our motto is we learn not for school but for life.”

-Valerie Yarmesch, computer science department chair at HB

Committed to helping boys forge their own path

A look at University School’s approach toward empowering students to explore, experiment and gain valuable experience

By Doug Sha er

The experience a young boy has from the time he enters a school to the time he graduates has a resounding impact on who he becomes later in life. For many current and past students of University School, their time at the independent day school has played a pivotal role in developing them into the person they are today.

With opportunities to explore di erent interests, participate in community activities and engage socially with mentors and friends, it’s easy to see why many former students talk so fondly of their time at University School.

“What we o er is the opportunity for boys to explore, experiment and experience various possibilities for who they’re becoming,” said Krystopher Perry, Director of the Upper School and Hunting Valley Campus for University School. “So that they can forge their own path and sense of self.”

Student success beyond the classroom

University School has earned a reputation for preparing boys for college -- one hundred percent of its graduates go on to four-year colleges -- but the school strives to prepare students for life outside and beyond the classroom. e school’s exibility, independent research programs, and variety of clubs and other organizations allow students to try new activities that contribute to their growth as a student and person.

“In the past, we’ve had grads who are national champions in speech, who also happen to publish a book of poetry,” said Perry. “We have athletes who are on the stage performing theater. We have lmmakers who have presented and been recognized at international competitions. We have poets, musicians, writers, and athletes who are not just those things but all of those things simultaneously.”

Unlike other private schools that focus solely on education, University School ensures that each boy has the opportunity to nd out what they’re passionate about. Perry nds this to be one of University School’s particular strengths.

“I’ve worked at other independent schools in the past, and one of the characteristics

that make University School special is the amount of freedom it gives boys to explore, experiment, and experience themselves in di erent ways that they didn’t think possible,” he said.

Providing support for incoming students

With more than 100 di erent schooling options throughout Northeast Ohio, students and their families o en switch school districts one to two times throughout their academic careers.

Transitioning from a public school experience to an independent school community can come with some unknowns for students. However, the sta at University

independent school, including several programs throughout high school.

According to Perry, these programs are geared towards nurturing the growth of the whole boy, acknowledging key milestones in a boy’s development while he experiences the school’s academic program. e school is organized into ten houses that help boys develop relationships outside of their academic classes and their sense of belonging while they compete to be their best selves in the classroom, on the athletic eld, or in the larger Cleveland community.

A dedicated alumni network

One of the biggest testaments to University School’s lasting impact on students is the school’s expansive alumni network.

“ e deep support of our wide alumni base has helped us provide students throughout the Northeast Ohio area with need-based aid and merit scholarships,” Perry said. “ e Jarvis Scholar program is one of the biggest scholarship opportunities awarded each year.”

Students awarded the Jarvis Scholarship receive a fully-funded scholarship to attend University School from ninth through 12th grade.

School has created several initiatives to help ensure new students feel welcomed and supported throughout their time at the school.

“We have orientation experiences at the beginning of the year and immersive experiences throughout the course of the year for each of our classes to help build the sense of community,” Perry said.

Even though some of these experiences take place on campus, many are also happening in the community. In 2022, students visited and participated with a number of organizations throughout the Greater Cleveland area, such as the Cleveland Leadership Center, the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, the Greater Cleveland Kid’s Book Bank, the Arts District, the Sight Center, Youth Challenge, Empower Sports, and more.

Along with orientation and immersive experiences, University School also o ers other opportunities for new students to get involved and adjust to life at the

While the alumni network has been instrumental in supporting current students, they also played a pivotal role in supporting University School during the pandemic. Perry recalled a time during the early stages of COVID when many young alumni were willing to step in and help temporarily cover classes or act as a support system for students and faculty.

University School grads making an impact

During their time at University School, boys have unlimited opportunities to make an impact throughout the Cleveland community. However, what the graduates do a er their senior year truly shows the in uence University School had on them academically and personally.

“Our boys are continuously going to top universities across the country and even the world,” Perry said. “Over the past couple of years, we’ve had graduates attend elite institutions of higher education and receive prestigious graduate scholarship opportunities abroad as well.”

BEAUMONT SCHOOL

ADDRESS:

3301 North Park Blvd., Cleveland Heights

WEBSITE: beaumontschool.org

PHONE: 216-321-2954

GRADES SERVED: 9-12

TOTAL ENROLLMENT: 302

ANNUAL TUITION: $18,540

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE: 15

STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO: 10:1

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1850

TOP SCHOOL LEADERSHIP:

• Wendy Hoke, president

• Ann Hoelzel, principal

• Michele Bernot, dean of student affairs

• Simon Masters, dean of academics and IB coordinator

TOP BOARD LEADERSHIP:

• Suzanne Hanselman, board chair

• Dorothy Russo Moulthrop, Ph.D. ’91, board vice chair

CAMPUS AND FACILITIES:

Beaumont’s campus is situated on 21 acres of serene, wooded grounds with an abundance of learning spaces, including our Innovation Lab and Studio Art spaces. The school’s most recent construction projects include a state-of-the-art kitchen and dining facility, St. Angela Merici Turf Field and Merici Center for Success.

EXTRACURRICULAR PROGRAMS:

A member of the Crown Conference, Beaumont offers students 10 sports programs. In addition, it provides them over 30 clubs and activities, along with international travel options through its World Language and History programs.

UNIQUE STUDY OPTIONS/PROGRAMS: International Baccalaureate World School

As the only Northeast Ohio all-girls’ high school that offers the IB Diploma Programme, Beaumont achieved International Baccalaureate (IB) World School status in 2017. As a result, the school’s IB for All aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who will help create a better, more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.

Merici Center for Success

In our integrated, four-year program of educational support for students with learning differences, students meet daily with their intervention specialists to develop skills for learning and life success, such as executive functioning, organization skills and study habits.

Studio Art

Beaumont’s four-year Studio Art program encourages students’ exploration of ne arts, enabling them to develop a wide range of skills in various specialties. The program culminates in the creation of a comprehensive portfolio, along with participation in a senior exhibition, which is similar to a Bachelor of Fine Arts show.

Pre-engineering

The school’s pre-engineering course introduces students to the scope, rigor and discipline of engineering. Furthermore, it offers a two-year engineering course (IB Design Technology), allowing participants to concentrate on science, math and computer science in various course selections.

Veale Youth Entrepreneurship Forum

Students participate in a variety of real-world competitions and experiences that expose them to all facets of business — from initial concept, to business planning, to going to market.

FACULTY:

• Faculty members’ average tenure is 16 years

• All faculty members are IB certi ed, and 80% hold an advanced degree

• Three full-time Academic Support Specialists are available

ALUMNAE:

• Kathryn Hahn ’91 (Award-winning TV and lm actress)

• Emily Infeld ’18 (Track and eld U.S. Olympian)

• Ellen Proctor ’60 (Worked on the patent for the compression system for mammography)

• Meg Taylor Ruesch, Ph.D. ’87 (Vice president of research and development at P zer; she worked on the team with BioNTech that mass produced the COVID-19 vaccine)

• Melody Stewart ’80 (First African American female justice serving the Ohio Supreme Court)

FINANCIAL AID: Beaumont’s merit scholarships and tuition assistance awards aid to 68% of current students; they’re also automatically renewed each year. The school is currently a provider of the EdChoice, Cleveland and Jon Peterson Scholarships through the Ohio Department of Education (ODE).

FALL

OPEN HOUSE

11:30 a.m., Oct. 29

Mission Statement: Beaumont School is an all-girls’ Catholic high school in the Ursuline tradition that educates women for life, leadership and service.

Cleveland Central Catholic High School

ADDRESS:

6550 Baxter Ave., Cleveland

WEBSITE: centralcatholichs.org

EMAIL: admissions@ccc-hs.org

PHONE: 216-441-4700

GRADES SERVED: 9-12

TOTAL ENROLLMENT: 430

ANNUAL TUITION: $10,500

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE: 22

STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO: 10:1

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1969

TOP SCHOOL LEADERSHIP:

• John Simon ’72, president

• Sister Allison Marie Gusdanovic, SND, principal

• Sean Belveal, assistant principal

TOP BOARD LEADERSHIP:

• John Cvetic, chair

• Ellen Zerucha, vice chair

• Allyn Davies

• Jerry Kysela

• John Peca ’70

• John Miceli

• Chris Alvarado

• John Malcolm ’82

• Cynthia Bond Morgan ’71

• Rev. Eric Orzech

GRADUATION RATE: 99% average the past four years.

Note: To graduate, students must pass the State of Ohio testing requirements.

COLLEGE ACCEPTANCE RATE: 83%

CAMPUS AND FACILITIES: Located in Slavic Village, the Cleveland Central Catholic (CCC) campus has a football eld, an all-weather track and two gymnasiums.

ACCREDITATION: CCC holds accreditation from AdvancED (formerly the North Central Accreditation Association), the OCSAA (Ohio Catholic School Accreditation Association), the Sisters of Notre Dame National Education Partnership and the State of Ohio.

EXTRACURRICULAR PROGRAMS: CCC offers many extracurricular programs to meet a wide variety of student interests. We compete in 13 interscholastic programs, including baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, football, softball, track and eld, volleyball and wrestling. In addition, we not only have a soccer club, but we’re exploring opportunities to start a rowing club, too.

Aside from athletics, we provide many club-based activities, including Art Club, Catholic Schools for Peace and Justice, GIRL (Girls Inspiring Respect and Leadership) Club, Poetry Club, Spanish Club, Video Game Club and Yearbook.

Students also have an opportunity to participate in LINK Crew (student-to-student mentoring), National Honor Society, Student Ambassador, Student Senate, and various leadership training and enrichment programs.

UNIQUE STUDY OPTIONS/PROGRAMS: CCC has a well-deserved reputation as a leader in Special Education. We understand that not every student learns the same way, as we have provided students individualized instructional plans, as needed, for more than 40 years.

We also offer career-oriented medical programming through participation in the Cleveland Clinic, along with ASPIRE Nursing and ASPIRE Pathways (Medical Technology) programs. At the same time, our Building and Construction Trades program — through a partnership with Cuyahoga Community College — provides students an opportunity to learn and receive hands-on training for in-demand careers in the construction industry.

Furthermore, we offer a course in Robotics, in which students learn skills in engineering and programming by building a land-based robot and a drone. Our students have an opportunity to participate in the Ohio College Credit Plus program as well, enabling them to earn high school and college credits simultaneously, via courses offered by Cuyahoga Community College.

FACULTY: The faculty and staff at CCC have an average of more than 14 years of teaching experience, and a large percentage of the faculty have advanced degrees. Fifteen percent of the school’s faculty and staff are alums, while the Sisters of Notre Dame are on staff as members of the faculty and administration.

FINANCIAL AID: CCC students have several different opportunities to receive tuition assistance. Due to the recent expansion of the Ohio voucher programs, more students will be able to acquire a scholarship voucher this fall than ever before. CCC welcomes students who may be eligible for the Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program, the EdChoice Scholarship Program, and the John Peterson and Autism Scholarship Programs.

Additionally, CCC has a number of its own scholarship funds, as well as needs-based Diocesan Tuition Assistance. For example, it offers The Stefanski Service Scholarship Program through the support of the Third Federal Foundation. This program is open to all students and family members, enabling them to perform service projects and receive credit on their tuition.

To learn more and schedule your visit, contact admissions@ccc-hs.org or 216-641-2056.

Mission Statement: Cleveland Central Catholic High School is a coeducational school that’s rooted in the Gospel values of Jesus Christ and focused on college and career readiness. Our mission is to challenge and encourage our students to excel academically, to deepen their faith in God and to live a life of service, so they may face a future with confidence and hope.

GILMOUR ACADEMY

CAMPUS AND FACILITIES: Recent construction projects:

ADDRESS:

34001 Cedar Road, Gates Mills

WEBSITE: gilmour.org

PHONE: 440-473-8050

GRADES SERVED: Montessori Preschool (Toddler-Pre-K); Grades K-12

TOTAL ENROLLMENT: 760

ANNUAL TUITION:

$6,570-$33,330

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE: 15

STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO: 9:1

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1946

TOP SCHOOL LEADERSHIP:

• Kathleen C. Kenny, head of school

• Ryan Ryzner, chief operating of cer

• Elizabeth Edmondson, chief academic of cer

• Whitney Daly, chief mission integration of cer

• Tym Tagliaferro, director of the Upper School

TOP BOARD LEADERSHIP:

• Fred G. Botek ’85, board chair

• Michael J. Baird

• Lorraine C. Dodero

• James R. Pender

• Katherine C. Pender

• Kristin E. Rogers

• Dr. Kevin M. Stein

• E. Mark Young ’92

• The Lorraine and Bill Dodero Center for Performing Arts

• Renovation of Weber Stadium (a turf eld, an all-weather track, stadium lights, long jump and high jump) and Taylor Softball Field

• Six tennis courts

• Phase II of Figgie Field project (a baseball scoreboard, grandstands, a press box, a concession stand, bathrooms and an entrance plaza with ticket windows)

• Outdoor learning facilities (Preschool-Grade 12): an outdoor classroom, a nature trail, a greenhouse, apiaries, giving gardens, a chicken coop and a learning pavilion

• Lower School playground

• Fabrication Lab

Existing facilities include:

• Molecular genetics research lab (the only one of its kind in Ohio-based secondary schools)

• Digital music studio

• Broadcast journalism studio

• Sports medicine training room, along with a natatorium, a gymnasium, an all-turf baseball eld and two ice rinks

• Ten Steinway pianos ( rst private K-12 school in the Midwest to become a Steinway Select K-12 School)

• Boarding option for Grades 9-12

ACCREDITATION: Accreditation is provided through the Independent School Association of the Central States and the Ohio Catholic School Accrediting Association.

EXTRACURRICULAR PROGRAMS:

• Lower School clubs/activities: 15+

• Middle School clubs/activities: 17

• Upper School clubs/activities: 50 (the speech/ debate team is ranked nationally)

• 56 sports teams

UNIQUE STUDY OPTIONS/PROGRAMS:

Nature-Based Learning Program (Toddler-Grade 12):

• Outdoor learning facilities

• Environmental science courses

• Sustainability initiatives

Community Block (Grades 7-12):

• Midday block with a myriad of options for enrichment

• Club meetings during Community Block, rather than after school (so that students can participate in athletics and clubs/activities)

• Students can meet with teachers, use athletic facilities and participate in spiritual opportunities

• Teachers may take students off campus for extended, experiential learning

LancerTech:

• Computer science opportunities for students and professional development for teachers

• Advanced courses in 3D game design, competitive robotics, web development and engineering

• Recognized as a regional training hub/bestpractices showcase for educational institutions

Wellness Initiative:

• Mindfulness and social-emotional, physical and nancial wellness

• Daily wellness block at Lower School (ToddlerGrade 6)

VECTOR Program:

• Students, along with their faculty mentor, design a focused academic experience — with real-world opportunities — in a focus area

FACULTY:

• Average tenure: Eight years

• Average number of years of teaching experience: 15

• Percent with advanced degrees: 74%

ALUMNI: Gilmour alumni (over 5,900 graduates) live in 43 countries, along with 49 of the 50 states in the U.S. They continue to live out the school’s mission to “develop the competence to see and the courage to act in creating a more humane and just society” in a variety of industries, including lm and theater, nance, healthcare, law, politics, professional sports, social justice work, TV and more.

FINANCIAL AID: Merit-based and need-based tuition assistance is offered for students in Grades K-12. $10.5 million was awarded for the 2022-2023 school year.

FALL OPEN HOUSE

Oct. 8, Noon to 2 p.m.

Optional information session at 11 a.m. RSVP at gilmour.org/openhouse.

Mission Statement: To develop the competence to see and the courage to act in creating a more humane and just society.

We teach the child. We reach the heart.

Gilmour empowers students to achieve their goals and discover their passions.

Innovative curriculum and state-of-the-art facilities are what you would expect from one of the best private schools in Northeast Ohio. But it is how Gilmour Academy impacts students beyond the classroom that makes our school truly unique. Entrepreneurial opportunities; service projects; and experiential programming in technology, science and the arts provide students endless possibilities to find their passions and build confidence. Our students learn about the real world and, more importantly, how to positively impact it. Gilmour educates the mind and empowers the heart of every student. That’s the advantage of an independent, Catholic school.

To learn more or schedule a personal tour, visit gilmour.org/admission

Gilmour Academy is an independent, Catholic, coed school in the Holy Cross tradition. Grades K-12 and Montessori (18 months - Preschool) | 34001 Cedar Road | Gates Mills, Ohio | 44040 | gilmour.org

HATHAWAY BROWN SCHOOL

ADDRESS:

19600 North Park Blvd., Shaker Heights

WEBSITE: hb.edu

PHONE: 216-932-4214

GRADES SERVED: Girls K-12

TOTAL ENROLLMENT: 815

ANNUAL TUITION:

$23,700-$38,600

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE: 15

STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO: 8:1

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1876

TOP SCHOOL LEADERSHIP:

• Dr. Fran Bisselle, head of school

• Sheri Homany, associate head of school

• Kelly Stepnowsky, Primary School director

• Sharon Baker, Middle School director

• Rachel Lintgen, Upper School director

TOP BOARD LEADERSHIP:

• Margaret Roberts, president

• Helen Rankin Butler ’87, vice president

• Elizabeth DeMarco Novak ’77, treasurer

• Caroline Borrow, secretary

CAMPUS AND FACILITIES: Hathaway Brown’s 16-acre Shaker Heights campus houses a fourstory glass-paneled atrium, visual and performing arts spaces, and an IDEA Lab and Maker Space. Furthermore, the campus features an onsite adventure learning course, a variety of dynamic classroom con gurations and a working television studio. And it offers students an aquatics center, along with tennis courts and turf playing elds.

ACCREDITATION: Hathaway Brown (HB) is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States.

EXTRACURRICULAR PROGRAMS: HB is home to 12 varsity athletics teams, along with the country’s rst e-sports team established at an all-girls school. It also has a large and consistently excellent speech and debate team, an award-winning robotics program and several performing arts opportunities.

UNIQUE STUDY OPTIONS/PROGRAMS: Since 1876, HB has educated and empowered girls with the Learn for Life Signature Approach. The school’s distinguished academics are nationally recognized, as they’re also valued by families, top colleges and universities, and employers.

The Signature Approach allows students to take ownership of their education with outstanding experiential learning opportunities, such as the Storyline model in the Primary School, the Academies in Middle School and the Fellowships for the Applied Studies in the Upper School.

HB’s model, facilitated by an incredibly impressive and engaged faculty, empowers girls to rise boldly to the challenges of the times, achieve their goals and reach their utmost potential.

FACULTY: Sixty- ve percent of HB teachers hold advanced degrees. And each faculty and staff member participates in deep and profound racial equity training.

ALUMNAE: The HB alumnae network includes more than 4,000 women who live in 49 states and 27 foreign countries. Ranging in age from 17 to 105, they’re a celebrated community of civically engaged, trailblazing women who hold positions in every professional industry. Many were the rst women to complete particular college degree programs or earn executive-level positions in their respective organizations.

FINANCIAL AID: HB is committed to educating talented and academically promising girls throughout Northeast Ohio, without regard to a family’s nancial pro le. Therefore, exible tuition is an option ($5 million annually for students in Grades K-12). Merit awards are granted to incoming Grade 9 students who apply and qualify.

FALL OPEN HOUSE

Parent previews are held monthly, starting in October.

Mission Statement: HB is a dynamic and compassionate community dedicated to excellence in the education of girls. For us, educational excellence includes, but reaches well beyond, superb preparation for college. The true mission of the school, as reflected in our motto, ‘Non Scholae Sed Vitae Discimus’, is preparation for life. (The full mission statement can be viewed at hb.edu/about.)

HAWKEN SCHOOL

ADDRESSES: Lyndhurst Campus

Toddler-Grade 8

5000 Clubside Road, Lyndhurst 440-423-2950

The Birchwood School of Hawken

Preschool-Grade 8

4400 West 140th St., Cleveland 216-251-2321

Gates Mills Campus

Grades 9-12

May eld and County Line Roads, Gates Mills 440-423-2955

The Mastery School of Hawken

Grades 9-12

11025 Magnolia Drive, Cleveland 440-423-8801

University Circle Urban Extension Center

The Sally & Bob Gries Center for Experiential and Service Learning

10823 Magnolia Drive, Cleveland

WEBSITE: hawken.edu

PHONE: 440-423-4446

GRADES SERVED:

Toddler-Grade 12

TOTAL ENROLLMENT: Over 1,600

ANNUAL TUITION:

$6,950-$39,680

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE: 12-16

STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO: 8:1

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1915

TOP SCHOOL LEADERSHIP:

• D. Scott Looney, head of school

• Kathy Mitchell O’Neal, assistant head of school for enrollment management

• Suzette Dyer, chief academic of cer

• Julia Grif n, director of the Mastery School of Hawken

TOP BOARD LEADERSHIP:

• Paul Harris, chair

GRADUATION RATE: 100%

COLLEGE ACCEPTANCE RATE: 100%

CAMPUS AND FACILITIES:

The Lyndhurst campus (Toddler-Grade 8) features an Early Childhood Center, a newly designed Lower School, an Innovation Lab and two libraries. In addition, it has an auditorium, an ecogarden, two gyms and a musical arts center, along with an indoor climbing wall, tennis courts, a track and multiple playing elds.

The Gates Mills campus (Grades 9-12) features Stirn Hall, the main academic building that includes a fabrication lab, a media and communications lab, a science center and more. There is also a modern athletic complex with two gyms and a swimming pool, a challenge/ropes course, a weight room and a wrestling room. Furthermore, it has eight tennis courts, grass and arti cial turf elds, a stadium and a track.

Birchwood School of Hawken (Preschool-Grade8) offers families on Cleveland’s West Side access to a Hawken education. The facility celebrates Birchwood’s close-knit, diverse community and re ects Hawken’s emphasis on the development of character and intellect.

The Mastery School of Hawken campus (Grades 9-12) opened in August 2020 and is located within steps of many of the world’s most engaging and innovative cultural, educational, arts and medical institutions. It provides students and faculty an abundance of opportunities for partnerships and real-world, problem-based learning.

The Sally and Bob Gries Center for Experiential and Service Learning,located in University Circle, adjacent to the Mastery School of Hawken, supports off-campus programming for all Hawken students.

ACCREDITATION: Hawken School is fully accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS).

EXTRACURRICULAR PROGRAMS: Hawken School offers a breadth of co-curricular offerings, including a full range of athletics offerings, speech and debate, an academic challenge, a literary magazine, dance,

stagecraft, outdoor leadership, robotics and more.

UNIQUE STUDY OPTIONS/PROGRAMS: Hawken provides signature programming that includes travel immersion experiences, maker space opportunities, nature-based experiences, STEMM internships, senior projects and computer science classes. At the high school level, students take part in Intensives twice each year — one course, all day for three weeks, in order to enable in-depth, immersive study of a single subject. And the Mastery School offers semester-long “Macro” courses in entrepreneurship, engineering, architecture and more.

FACULTY: Seventy-three percent of Hawken’s faculty hold advanced degrees.

ALUMNI: Hawken alumni hail from every state, along with 28 countries around the world; many return to campus for “Alumni Give Back Day” to share their career paths with students.

FINANCIAL AID: Hawken distributes over $13.8 million in nancial aid annually.

FALL OPEN HOUSES

Lyndhurst: Toddler-Grade 8, Nov. 19, 1 p.m.

Birchwood School: Preschool-Grade 8, Oct. 15, 2 p.m.

Gates Mills: Grades 9-12, Nov. 5, 1 p.m.

Mastery School (University Circle): Grades 9-12, Nov. 12, 1 p.m.

Mission Statement: Forward-focused preparation for the real world through the development of character and intellect.

SCHOOL REDEFINED

Get ready to do school differently!

Plan your visit today:

Early Childhood, Lower, and Middle School

Wednesday, 9/27/23, 9:00 am, Parent Visit

Wednesday, 10/18/23, 9:00 am, Parent Visit

Sunday, 11/19/23, 1:00 pm, OPEN HOUSE

Toddler – Grade 8 | Lyndhurst Campus

Birchwood School

Sunday, 10/15/23, 2:00 pm, OPEN HOUSE

Preschool–Grade 8 | Cleveland-West Campus

Upper School

Tuesday, 9/19/23, 6:00 pm (Virtual), Parent Visit

Tuesday, 10/17/23, 12:15 pm, Parent Visit

Sunday, 11/5/23, 1:00 pm, OPEN HOUSE

Grades 9–12 | Gates Mills Campus

Mastery School

Wednesday, 9/20/23, 9:00 am, Parent Visit

Tuesday, 10/10/23, 9:00 am, Parent Visit

Sunday, 11/12/23, 1:00 pm, OPEN HOUSE

Grades 9–12 | University Circle Campus

To RSVP and for more information, call 440.423.2950 (Early Childhood, Lower & Middle School), 216.251.2321 (Birchwood School),

440.423.2955 (Upper School), 440.423.8801 (Mastery School), or visit hawken.edu/admissions.

Hershey Montessori School

ADDRESSES:

Concord Campus (BirthGrade 6): 10229 Prouty Road, Concord Twp.

Huntsburg Campus (Grades 7-12): 11530 Madison Road, Huntsburg

WEBSITE: hershey-montessori.org

PHONE: 440-357-0918

GRADES SERVED:

Infant-Grade 12

TOTAL ENROLLMENT: 233

ANNUAL TUITION:

$9,630-$25,470

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE:

Elementary: 17; Middle and High School: 12

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1978

TOP SCHOOL LEADERSHIP:

• Paula Leigh-Doyle, head of school

• John Buzzard, Huntsburg

Campus director

• Brooks Cavin, Middle School director

• Deanna Meadows-Shrum, director of marketing and communications

• Yvonne Delgado Thomas, development director

TOP BOARD LEADERSHIP:

• John Cunningham, president

• Jane Neubauer, vice president

• Sandy Giallanza, secretary

• Angela Spalsbury, treasurer

• Debbie Guren, ex of cio

• Jeffrey Embleton

• Anthony Fracci

• Anne Marie Kollander

• Douglas Price IV

• Joel Smith

CAMPUS AND FACILITIES: Hershey is one of the rst Montessori schools in the world to offer a birth through Grade 12 education that most closely replicates Dr. Maria Montessori’s vision, including a boarding program on a working farm.

The 13-acre Concord Campus educates children from infancy to Grade 6. It includes gardens, play areas, wooded trails and more. Indoor and outdoor classrooms are intentionally designed with Montessori materials — and for age-appropriate child development, providing freedom of choice that’s intended to engage interest and stimulate the child’s curiosity.

The 97-acre Huntsburg Campus educates students from Grades 7 to 12. Its environmentally sustainable classrooms, greenhouse, program barn maker space, wooded trails and working farm are intended to provide valorization. They also offer a sense of community, social-emotional well-being, real-life skills and a mastery of comprehensive academics.

ACCREDITATION: AMI recognized for ages 0 to 6+, Hershey is a member of ISACS, NAIS and OAIS.

EXTRACURRICULAR PROGRAMS: We uniquely offer extracurriculars based on student interest, as adolescents often create their own. Some of these offerings include animal care, Chess Club, Dungeon & Dragons, gardening, HOLA Ohio, horseback riding and Just Run. They can also participate in kayaking, lacrosse, Outdoor Skills & Adventures, Sci-Fi / Mystery Club, Ski Club and soccer.

UNIQUE STUDY OPTIONS/PROGRAMS: Our Montessori approach to academics provides opportunities for integrated studies. Students engage in project-based learning through the study of their own community, along with regional and global topics, using the various lenses of history, language, math and science. This allows students to grasp important, relevant concepts that expand their comprehension and critical thinking skills, preparing them to solve real-world problems as they enter adulthood.

FACULTY: Hershey faculty are speci cally trained in Montessori pedagogy. Furthermore, all lead teachers at the Concord campus hold an Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) teaching diploma, in addition to their four-year or graduate degrees.

As an internationally renowned model for Montessori education, Hershey hosts annual AMI adolescent teaching courses. Held by the International Montessori Training Institute, these courses are offered to educators all around the world.

ALUMNI: One hundred percent of Hershey graduates have been accepted into their college of choice. From authors, to actresses, to biologists, alumni report being con dently prepared for life after high school.

FINANCIAL AID: We seek to attract students from a variety of cultural, economic and geographic backgrounds. Financial aid is available to qualifying families.

FALL OPEN HOUSES

Concord Campus:

• Open Houses: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., Oct. 18, Nov. 8, Feb. 7, March 13 and April 17

Huntsburg Campus:

• Lunch and tour from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 15, Oct. 13, Nov. 17, Jan. 26, Feb. 9, March 8 and April 12

• Presentation and tour from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Sept. 1, Oct. 9, Nov. 13, Dec. 4, Jan. 22, Feb. 5, March 4 and April 15

Mission Statement: To provide beautiful Montessori environments, where learning and work are integrated within a community experience engaging the intellectual, moral and social development of children and adolescents, from birth to 18 years.

Montessorieducationencouragesstudentstofollow theirinnateinterests,engageindeepintellectual inquiry,andreachacademicmastery.Self-awareness ofthestudent’spotentialisexpanded,allowingthem toconfidentlyconstructtheirfuture.Thestudent developsastrongsenseofselfandpersonal expression,developingagencyoftheirownvoice. Montessori promotesleadership,responsibility,selfdiscipline,independence,adaptability,resilience, curiosity,andapassionforlifelonglearning.

CHILDCENTRIC SCIENTIFICALLYALIGNED LEADERSHIPBUILDING PROJECTBASEDSTUDIES SOCIAL&EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

**NOWENROLLING**

Lake Ridge Academy

ADDRESS:

37501 Center Ridge Road, North Ridgeville

WEBSITE: lakeridgeacademy.org

PHONE: 440-327-1175

GRADES SERVED: K-12

TOTAL ENROLLMENT: 375

ANNUAL TUITION: $11,600-$22,000

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE: 12

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1963

TOP SCHOOL LEADERSHIP:

• Mitch White, head of school

• Mark Charvat, chief nancial of cer

• Megan Zahler, director of enrollment management

TOP BOARD LEADERSHIP:

• Brian Shimko ’04, chair

• Thomas Dake II, vice chair

• Jennifer Zinn Lagasse ’86, secretary

• Laurie Gatten, treasurer

CAMPUS AND FACILITIES: Lake Ridge Academy’s centrally located campus, set on 93 acres, contains a large pond, woods, gardens, a windmill and a solar panel array, which are used as a living laboratory and classroom in the school’s natural world education.

The Kemper Science and Engineering building includes an engineering fab lab (equipped with 3D printers, a CNC router, and vinyl and laser cutters), a college-level chemistry and research lab, and a greenhouse.

The campus also includes a 500-seat auditorium, a full-court gym, a ne arts building, science and computer labs, a large library and dedicated Lower, Middle and Upper school facilities.

ACCREDITATION: Lake Ridge is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States.

EXTRACURRICULAR PROGRAMS: There are more than 45 Middle and Upper School athletic teams and student-led clubs, including one of the state’s top Mock Trial Teams.

UNIQUE STUDY OPTIONS/PROGRAMS: Lake Ridge’s three Centers of Excellence — the academic pillars of its curriculum — provide enhanced learning opportunities for K-12 students, along with intensive graduate certi cate programs for interested Upper School students.

FACULTY: Our devoted faculty (many of whom have advanced degrees) has an average teaching experience of 16 years.

ALUMNI:

• Sunita Mathew ’95, child and adolescent psychiatrist, Nord Center

• Michael Sertich ’01, restaurant and franchise owner

• Brian Shimko ’04, venture capital partner, Maywic Select Investments

• Eric Sutherland ’80, chairman, PIMCO Investments

FINANCIAL AID: Over 70% of families receive nancial assistance.

Mission Statement: To send into a changing world confident, young people of integrity who think critically and creatively, while embracing the joy of lifelong learning.

LAUREL SCHOOL

ADDRESSES:

Lyman Campus

One Lyman Circle, Shaker Heights

Butler Campus

7420 Fairmount Road, Russell Township

WEBSITE: laurelschool.org

PHONE: 216-464-0946

GRADES SERVED:

18 months-Pre-Kindergarten (co-ed)

Kindergarten-Grade 12 (all girls)

TOTAL ENROLLMENT: 565

ANNUAL TUITION:

Early Childhood School:

$7,550-$22,290

Primary School, KindergartenGrade 5: $20,600-$28,475

Middle School, Grades 6-8: $29,550-$31,100

Upper School, Grades 9-12: $31,700-$33,950

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE: 10-14

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1896

TOP SCHOOL LEADERSHIP:

• Ann V. Klotz, head of school

• Heather Willis Daly, assistant head for strategic initiatives and engagement

• Rachel Herlein, assistant head for academic excellence

• Megan Weiskopf, director of teaching and learning

• Abigail Steinberg ’06, director of enrollment management

TOP BOARD LEADERSHIP:

• Megan Mehalko ’83, chair

• Carey Jaros ’96, vice chair

• Susan Luria ’85, secretary

• Bethany Bryant, treasurer

CAMPUS AND FACILITIES: Laurel’s twocampus advantage gives girls the edge. The 11-acre Lyman Campus is located in suburban Shaker Heights. Meanwhile, just seven miles away in Russell Township, Laurel students immerse themselves in the natural world at the beautiful 150-acre Butler Campus.

The Lyman Campus covers 11 acres and features two libraries, two gymnasiums (one recently renovated), a bouldering wall and a maker space. In addition, it has a dance studio, along with science labs in all divisions, 2D and 3D art spaces, an extensive outdoor play area, an athletic eld and a 350-seat Chapel Theater.

On the other hand, the Butler Campus features 150 acres of woodland and waterways, as well as state-ofthe-art athletic facilities, including eight tennis courts, two softball diamonds, a track, ve playing elds and a 16,000-square-foot tness center. It also has a Magic Tree House, two lodges, two learning pavilions, a 16-element Project Adventure Course, ve yurts, community gardens, a high tunnel and more!

UNIQUE STUDY OPTIONS/PROGRAMS: From Early Childhood to Upper School, the Butler Campus provides a dynamic learning environment. Its youngest learners visit the Butler Campus frequently for interdisciplinary lessons, while Middle School students engage in immersive weeks, focused on place-based learning. Additionally, it is home to the new Environmental Justice Semester for Upper School students.

Third to fth graders spend the entire school year engaged in an innovative curriculum at Butler, which invites them to grapple with concepts from multiple perspectives. Students explore autonomy as they develop intellectual strengths, academic skills and resilience, while also deepening their engagement with the environment.This experience for 8- to 11-year-old girls is unmatched by any other in Northeast Ohio.

Beyond academics, Butler boasts state-of-the-art athletics facilities and elds that serve as a home for many of the school’s sports teams, as well as some youth athletics programming. Laurel’s student athletes practice, compete and bene t from the expertise of dedicated strength and conditioning coaches.

The unparalleled advantages of Laurel’s Butler Campus foster academic excellence and athletic development to empower students on and off the eld.

ALUMNAE:

• Holly Gleason ‘81, music critic, songwriter, editor of Prine on Prine and Woman Walk the Line, and LA Press Club’s Entertainment Journalist of the Year (2023)

• Sarah Johnson Morath ‘94, professor, Wake Forest University Law School, and author of Our Plastic Problem and How to Solve It

• Anne Lindblad Quanbeck ‘75, retired CEO, Emmes

• Cindhura Reddy ‘04, chef, Sputino (Denver), and James Beard Foundation semi nalist

• Ainslee Robson ‘11, Ethiopian-American media artist, lmmaker and Sundance-NEH Fellow

• Timotha McGoff Sullivan ‘57, animal welfare champion

• Jane Startzman ‘70, co-founder and festival director, Heinz Poll Summer Dance Festival

• Jamie Taylor ‘02, LPGA Tour golf professional and founder, Black Golf Directory

FINANCIAL AID: Committed to enrolling academically quali ed students, Laurel offers Variable Tuition, whereby tuition rates are customized, according to each family’s ability to contribute to their educational expenses.

Additionally, Laurel offers merit scholarships, including the Sarah Lyman Scholarship, which covers all four years of tuition and fees in Laurel’s Upper School — ve are made available each year to rising 9th graders and are awarded regardless of nancial need. Consideration for a Sarah Lyman Scholarship is highly selective. Successful candidates will have achieved excellence in academics and extracurricular activities.

FALL OPEN HOUSES:

Lyman Campus Open House:

5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Oct. 11

One Lyman Circle, Shaker Heights, Ohio 44122

Butler Campus Open House:

5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Oct. 18

7420 Fairmount Road, Russell Township, Ohio 44072

Register at laurelschool.org/openhouse.

Mission Statement: To inspire each girl to fulfill her promise and to better the world.

Laurel girls today. Leaders tomorrow.

Explore a Laurel education for your daughter. Learn about how Laurel’s Center for Research on Girls puts cu ing-edge research into action to create an environment in which girls thrive.

Hear about all the ways to afford Laurel, including our Sarah Lyman Scholarships awarded each year to up to five Ninth Graders that cover full tuition and fees for four years in the Upper School.

Join us for an open house to see how Laurel girls lead!

Wednesday, October 11 I 5:00 -7:00 pm Lyman Campus • Shaker Heights

Wednesday, October 18 I 5:00 -7:00 pm Butler Campus • Russell Township

RSVP today! Call 216.464.0946 or email Admissions@LaurelSchool.org

Magnificat High School

ADDRESS:

20770 Hilliard Blvd., Rocky River

WEBSITE:

magni caths.org

PHONE: 440-331-1572

GRADES SERVED: 9-12

TOTAL ENROLLMENT: 690

ANNUAL TUITION:

$18,500 before tuition assistance

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE: 18

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1955

TOP SCHOOL LEADERSHIP:

• Moira Clark ’77, president

• Julie Gibbons ’80, senior vice president of enrollment and marketing

• Colleen Greller, dean of faculty and academics

• Angela Boie, dean of student life and formation

• Katie Higgins ’99, vice president of mission

TOP BOARD LEADERSHIP:

• Laura Nortz, board chairperson; president, Nortz Consulting Group

• Sr. Carole Anne Griswold, HM, board executive committee member; former leadership team member, Sisters of the Humility of Mary

• Linda Loesch Kelley ’77, board executive committee member; senior vice president, KeyBank National Association

• Colleen Moran O’Neil ’88, board executive committee member; partner, Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP

• Margaret Jeffers Rowe ’87, board executive committee member; director of business development, CGI Federal Inc.

CAMPUS AND FACILITIES: Magni cat High School is a girls’ Catholic, college-preparatory high school — founded by the Sisters of the Humility of Mary — that prepares young women to learn, lead and serve in the spirit of Mary’s Magni cat. Students with a diversity of backgrounds, interests and aspirations choose Magni cat for the distinctive educational experience it provides. After all, classroom learning is enriched through hands-on learning, service, faith formation and leadership opportunities.

Under the mentorship of teachers, counselors and advisors, each student designs a unique educational experience, choosing from a course selection that includes over 30 AP and Honors courses, more than 50 co-curriculars and 15 varsity sports. Magni cat was the rst Northeast Ohio high school to partner with Motogo on a mechanical engineering curriculum, enabling students to learn hands-on engineering concepts as they disassemble and reassemble motorcycles. Consequently, students are given the tools to reach their academic and leadership goals, as well as the exibility to discover new interests and talents.

Magni cat has also invested in signi cant capital improvements to campus facilities in recent years, which enhance its curriculum and learning environment. For instance, the Magni cat Center for Science Exploration & Innovation, which was completed in August 2020, has innovative, exible spaces that encourage interdisciplinary exploration across the sciences. Meanwhile, its ne arts classrooms were redesigned and renovated during the summer of 2022, in order to completely recon gure and upgrade spaces for enhanced instruction in ceramics, drawing, jewelry making, multimedia, painting and photography projects.

In addition, the Magni cat Center for the Performing Arts is a state-of-the-art space that features a 1,100-seat theater, a scene shop, a green room

and a dance studio. And the Karnatz Family Field synthetic turf, along with Magni cat’s tennis courts and two gymnasiums, support its outstanding athletics program, as the volleyball team, for example, won the state championship in 2021 and nished as the state runner-up in 2022.

FINANCIAL AID:

Magni cat students graduate with the skills, knowledge and values they need to successfully transition to college and life. With a variety of scholarship opportunities available, 75% of families receive nancial aid. Magni cat prepares students to be con dent, well-rounded leaders in their careers, their communities and the world.

FALL OPEN HOUSE

Interested families are invited to our Open House at 11 a.m., Oct. 2 to discover what makes the Magni cat experience extraordinary!

Mission Statement: We educate young women holistically to learn, lead and serve in the spirit of Mary’s Magnificat.

Magni cat offers 15 varsity sports, as part of a comprehensive Student Life Program that enhances students’ educational experiences.

MAGNIFICAT

Educating faith-filled women leaders since 1955

MAGNIFICAT HIGH SCHOOL

is a Catholic girls’ school in Rocky River, Ohio, that educates young women holistically to learn, lead, and serve in the spirit of Mary’s Magnificat.

the code or visit www.magnificaths.org to learn more!

Padua Franciscan High School

ADDRESS:

6740 State Road, Parma

WEBSITE: paduafranciscan.com

PHONE: 440-845-2444

GRADES SERVED: 9-12

TOTAL ENROLLMENT: 750

ANNUAL TUITION: $14,100

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE: 19

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1961

TOP SCHOOL LEADERSHIP:

• David Stec ’86, president

• Bob DiRocco, principal

• Elizabeth Oles Smith, vice principal

• Chris Dziedzicki ’02, assistant principal of young men

• Mary Zolkowski, assistant principal of young women

TOP BOARD LEADERSHIP:

Board of Trustees:

• Mr. David Stec ’86, president

• Mr. John Chmura ’99, chairperson

• Mr. James Climer, vice chairperson

CAMPUS AND FACILITIES: Padua has a beautifully landscaped campus with two new entrances and lobbies. Offering an air-conditioned gymnasium that seats 1,000 spectators, the school also has a fully lit stadium, which includes an arti cial turf eld and an 8-lane track.

At the same time, the school provides students a baseball eld, a fast-pitch softball eld and batting cages, while offering a dance studio, a weight room and a wrestling room, too. In addition, it has newly renovated state-of-the-art MyTrack Business, Engineering and Computer Science classrooms, along with a TV studio.

ACCREDITATION: Padua is accredited by the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), as well as the Ohio Catholic Accrediting Association (OCAA). It also holds a college preparatory charter from the State of Ohio. Additionally, it is the rst traditional high school in America to receive full accreditation from the American International Accreditation Association of Schools and Colleges (AIAASC).

EXTRACURRICULAR PROGRAMS: Padua has 27 interscholastic sports offerings and over 30 clubs, in order to accommodate a wide array of interests.

UNIQUE STUDY OPTIONS/PROGRAMS: Padua offers 37 Honors classes and 14 Advanced Placement classes.

MedTrack is an award-winning, four-year advanced science track that’s focused on helping students explore and prepare for careers in healthcare. The comprehensive program combines advanced coursework, enrichment opportunities and practical experiences, while integrating the distinctive Franciscan approach to healthcare, which only Padua Franciscan can provide.

MyTrack prepares students in the Franciscan tradition for careers in Business, Computer Science,

Engineering, Law and Studio Art. It also provides students with a strong academic foundation, career exploration through its professional speaker series, professionalism guidance (mock interviews and networking opportunities), hands-on experiences (including competitions, eld trips and state-of-theart technology) and shadowing opportunities.

FACULTY: The faculty and staff are instrumental in sharing Franciscan values and traditions, while making sure students are happy, healthy, holy and highly prepared. Every student is known and loved, while also being challenged to achieve academic excellence and live out a lifelong commitment to Christ in holiness and learning. Students commonly say they feel at home. “Never Alone, Always a Bruin” is more than just a saying. It helps students understand what it means to be part of the Padua Franciscan family.

FINANCIAL AID: Over 70% of families receive nancial assistance, including nancial aid, grants and scholarships. Visit paduafranciscan.com/ tuition- nancial-aid for more information.

FALL OPEN HOUSE:

Padua Franciscan will host an Open House from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Oct. 15 and from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Oct. 16.

Families will hear from Principal DiRocco on what makes Padua unique, compared to other schools. Teachers, administrators and students will also offer small group tours that showcase how Padua is utilizing the latest emerging technology, in order to enhance our rigorous academics, including our premier programs, such as MedTrack and MyTrack.

All middle school students will receive a special gift and be entered into a tuition and Bruin Shop gift certi cate raf e. Registration will be open in August.

Mission Statement: Padua Franciscan High School — a Catholic, college preparatory school committed to the traditions and values of Saint Francis and Saint Clare of Assisi — educates young men and women within a community where all are challenged to achieve academic excellence and live out a lifelong commitment to Christ in holiness and learning.

Open House

Sunday, October 15 @ 10am - 1pm

Monday, October 16 @ 6pm - 8pm

Shadow a Padua Student 8th Graders beginning September 7

Placement Tests & Parent Info Sessions

Saturday, October 7 @ 9am - 12pm

Saturday, October 28 @ 9am - 12pm

Saturday, November 4 @ 9am - 12pm

St. Edward High School

ADDRESS:

13500 Detroit Ave., Lakewood

WEBSITE: sehs.net

PHONE: 216-521-2204

GRADES SERVED: 9-12

TOTAL ENROLLMENT: 900

ANNUAL TUITION: $19,350

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE: 21

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1949

TOP SCHOOL LEADERSHIP:

• KC McKenna ’00, president

• Matthew Stepnowsky, principal

• Paul Mocho ’85, vice president of institutional advancement

• Pete Kahler ’02, athletic director

• Dan Wallenhorst ’04, director of admission

TOP BOARD LEADERSHIP:

• Kurt McMaken, board chair

• Daniel Geib ’76, vice chair

• Tari Rivera, secretary

• Fiona Chambers, treasurer

CAMPUS AND FACILITIES: Just a short drive from downtown Cleveland, the St. Edward campus features a variety of modern amenities: a chapel, collaborative learning labs, stadium and athletic training spaces, technology hubs, and an innovation wing with a cutting-edge makerspace. Tucked behind the building is a ourishing urban garden and chicken coop — where students gather vegetables and eggs for distribution in charitable service projects.

ACCREDITATION: St. Edward is sponsored by the Brothers of Holy Cross and fully accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States.

EXTRACURRICULAR PROGRAMS: The Eagle athletic program is unmatched in Ohio, boasting 75 state and 11 national titles. However, sports aren’t the only way Edsmen dazzle a crowd — the school’s music and theater performances regularly sell out, and the mock trial team brought home the 2023 state championship trophy. With 17 sports and more than 50 clubs, ranging from robotics to faith-based ministries, Edsmen have ample opportunities to discover their passions!

UNIQUE STUDY OPTIONS/PROGRAMS: St. Edward’s curriculum fosters international mindedness, which is the ability to set aside differences and glean wisdom from all corners of humanity. The school operates one of the most successful and robust International Baccalaureate programs in the country. This renowned educational framework goes beyond academics by emphasizing critical thinking, international perspectives and subject matter connectedness.

The rigor of IB discussion, research and writing is well-known by colleges and universities. New legislation has ampli ed its value by guaranteeing post-secondary credit in Ohio. In addition, vibrant international travel opportunities have recently taken student cohorts to Guam, Belize, New Zealand and more.

Furthermore, St. Edward offers dedicated, four-year programs in engineering, business and lm studies.

FACULTY: St. Edward’s faculty is a diverse and passionate group of educators, many of whom are alumni themselves. They are committed to teaching 21st century skills, equipping students with the knowledge and awareness that’s needed to build a better future for all.

ALUMNI: The St. Edward brotherhood continues far beyond graduation! Common bonds unite more than 15,000 engaged alumni around the world. Edsmen of note include television host Phil Donahue ’53, chef Michael Symon ’87, sports anchor Dan Coughlin ’56 and Stanley Cup champion Mike Rupp ’98.

FINANCIAL AID: The EdChoice Expansion Scholarship is now available to every family, regardless of zip code or household income. This Ohio Department of Education funding reduces St. Edward’s tuition by $950 to $8,407 annually. The school also offers merit scholarships, need-based nancial aid and a limited number of endowed scholarships for talented learners, leaders and musicians.

FALL OPEN HOUSES:

Open House is so much more than a simple tour of the building. The entire family is welcome to participate in an interactive experience that showcases St. Edward’s exceptional academic, athletic, arts and extracurricular offerings. Visit sehs.net/openhouse to register.

11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Oct. 1

5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Oct. 16, Oct. 23 and Nov. 6

Mission Statement: St. Edward High School, a Catholic school in the Holy Cross tradition, educates the hearts and minds of a diverse group of young men to have the competence to see and the courage to act as men of hope for the transformation of the world.

Saint Ignatius High School

ADDRESS:

1911 West 30th St., Cleveland

WEBSITE: ignatius.edu

PHONE: 216-651-0222

GRADES SERVED: 9-12

TOTAL ENROLLMENT: 1,409

ANNUAL TUITION: $19,950

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE: 21

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1886

TOP SCHOOL LEADERSHIP:

• Fr. Raymond Guiao, S.J. ’82, president

• Dr. Anthony T. Fior ’02, principal

• Patricia Walcutt, vice president of administration and chief nancial of cer

• Jeff McCormick ’83, vice president of marketing, enrollment and communications

• Dennis Stonequist, vice president of institutional advancement

TOP BOARD LEADERSHIP:

• Paul J. Pace ’90, board chair

• Patrick Brennan ’93

• Kathleen Ferry

• Wendy Hoke

• A.J. Hyland ’90

• Michael Meadows ’82

• Neil McCarthy ’71

• Pat Sullivan

• Taras Szmagala ’84

• Jack Walton ’68

CAMPUS AND FACILITIES: Located in close proximity to downtown Cleveland in the vibrant and energetic Ohio City neighborhood, Saint Ignatius High School occupies 23 acres and includes 19 buildings and three athletic elds. The newest building on campus is Kesicki Hall, the home of The Welsh Academy, a middle school for boys from families of modest economic means.

ACCREDITATION: Saint Ignatius High School is accredited by the Ohio Catholic School Accrediting Association (OCSAA).

EXTRACURRICULAR PROGRAMS: With nearly 100 clubs and student groups on campus, there’s something for everyone. Visit ignatius.edu/ extracurriculars for a full listing of extracurricular programs and descriptions.

UNIQUE STUDY OPTIONS/PROGRAMS: Recently, the Center for Ignatian Pedagogy (CIP) — an institutional action research center and learning lab that studies adolescent boys’ cognitive, affective and behavioral growth and wellness — conducted an internal study of student engagement. Inspired by Stanford’s Challenge Success study’s ndings, concerning student engagement during the pandemic, the CIP recognized the need, now more than ever, to meet Saint Ignatius High School’s students authentically where they are.

The ndings of this study are galvanizing a series of action research projects, which study student learning and engagement and are led by our pilot group of Student Research Fellows. In collaboration with faculty researchers and mentors, our students will be empowered to develop action research projects, using frameworks powered by Ignatian discernment.

By partnering with our students to initiate complex questions about their learning, we can authentically

accompany them in the creation of a hope- lled future.

FACULTY: The school has 113 faculty members, 90% of whom hold advanced degrees. Sixty percent have taught at Saint Ignatius for 10 years or more.

ALUMNI: Upon graduation, students enter a brotherhood of more than 19,000 alumni that are living across the world. This network includes Dre’Mont Jones ’15 (NFL defensive lineman), Congressman Ted Lieu ’87, Rory O’Malley ’99 (Tony Award-nominated Broadway actor), Larry Dolan ’51 (owner, Cleveland Guardians), Rev. Timothy Broglio ’70 (archbishop, United States Military Services), Jim Free ’86 (associate administrator, NASA), Jim Danko ’71 (president, Butler University) and Jon Gannon ’01 (head coach, Arizona Cardinals).

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE: Thanks to generous alumni and benefactors, nearly 70% of Saint Ignatius students receive some form of tuition assistance. Saint Ignatius will provide approximately $7 million in tuition assistance in the upcoming school year. In addition to nancial assistance, Saint Ignatius participates in the Ohio Department of Education’s Cleveland Scholarship and EdChoice Scholarship programs.

FALL OPEN HOUSE: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sept. 24

Visit ignatius.edu/open-house for more information.

Mission Statement: Saint Ignatius High School, with its Catholic tradition rooted in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola, prepares young men for their adult lives by challenging them to academic excellence and the desire for lifelong learning; nurturing them to be open to growth, intellectually competent, religious, loving and committed to work for peace and justice; and inspiring them to know, love and serve Jesus Christ.

University School

ADDRESSES:

Grades Jr. K-8

20701 Brantley Road, Shaker Heights

Grades 9-12

2785 SOM Center Road, Hunting Valley

WEBSITE: us.edu

PHONE: 216-831-2200

GRADES SERVED: Junior Kindergarten-Grade 12

TOTAL ENROLLMENT: 859

ANNUAL TUITION: $18,830-$39,160

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE: 12-14

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1890

TOP SCHOOL LEADERSHIP:

• Patrick T. Gallagher, head of school

• Jennifer Beros, associate head of school

• Jonathan Bridge, assistant head of school for advancement

• Michael DeGrandis, chief nancial of cer

• Christina Townsend Hartz, director of admission and nancial aid

TOP BOARD LEADERSHIP:

• Richard R. Hollington III, chair, board of directors

• Michael C. Adams ’83, director

• Matthew V. Crawford ’87, director

• Joseph K. Juster, director

• Dale R. Naylor, director

• Carl J. Tippit, director

CAMPUS AND FACILITIES: Students in Junior Kindergarten through Grade 8 attend our 32-acre Shaker Heights Campus. The Lower School and Middle School are in separate, speciallydesigned wings, and share performing arts spaces, a woodshop and an innovative makerspace.

Our Hunting Valley Campus serves students in Grades 9 to 12. Situated on 220 acres, it includes a hardwood forest, a lake for shing and canoeing, a trout hatchery and an apiary. The building features state-of-the-art science labs, CAD classrooms and an arts wing that includes a woodshop, a sculpture studio and a music rehearsal space.

Both campuses also have extensive outdoor athletic facilities and indoor pools.

ACCREDITATION:

• Independent School Association of the Central States

• International Boys’ School Coalition

• National Association of Independent Schools

• Ohio State Department of Education

UNIQUE STUDY OPTIONS/PROGRAMS: US is a school designed for boys. It is a place where each boy is free and supported to let his true self thrive. We seek students of all ambitions — artists, athletes, entrepreneurs, musicians and scholars. Our charge is to ensure boys possess an abiding balance of self-con dence and humility, while also building men of character who will lead and serve.

Our curriculum uses an innovative interdisciplinary framework that blends science, technology, engineering, math and the arts. Independent research and project options are available across all academic disciplines, as well as in the arts, entrepreneurship or civic engagement in middle and high school. US is ranked the #1 Private K-12 School in Ohio by niche.com.

FACULTY: US faculty members are true mentors to our students. The average tenure is 17 years and 77% hold advanced degrees.

ALUMNI:

• Nick Caserio ’94, general manager, Houston Texans

• Anthony Doerr ’91, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist of “All the Light We Cannot See”

• Jason Garrett ’84, NBC sports analyst; former head coach, Dallas Cowboys

• Don Graves ’88, deputy secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce

• James Park ’94, co-founder, Fitbit

• Michael Ruhlman ’81, James Beard awardwinning writer

• Doug Smith ’79, project leader, Wolf Restoration Project, Yellowstone National Park (retired)

• Orin Wolf ’97, Broadway producer; Tony Award winner for “The Band’s Visit”

FINANCIAL AID: More than $8 million in nancial assistance is allocated annually to 50% of our families. Merit awards are available, including the Jarvis Scholarship. Ten of these full, four-year scholarships are awarded each year to rising ninthgrade students. Learn more at us.edu/jarvis.

FALL OPEN HOUSE: All School Open House

11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Oct. 15

Shaker Heights and Hunting Valley Campuses

Mission Statement: University School inspires boys of promise to become young men of character who lead and serve. Our dedicated faculty, rigorous curriculum and experiential programs foster intellectual, physical, creative and moral excellence. University School is a diverse and inclusive community where each boy is known and loved.

Walsh Jesuit High School

ADDRESS:

4550 Wyoga Lake Road, Cuyahoga Falls

WEBSITE: walshjesuit.org

PHONE: 330-929-4205

GRADES SERVED: 9-12

TOTAL ENROLLMENT: 940

ANNUAL TUITION: $14,450

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE: 19

YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1964

TOP SCHOOL LEADERSHIP:

• Fr. Christopher Fronk, SJ, president

• Sean Lynch, principal

• Jason Ruegg, vice president of enrollment

• Aiesha Motley, vice president, equity and inclusion

TOP BOARD LEADERSHIP:

• Thomas J. Haag ’81, chairman

• Rev. Donald J. Petkash, S.J.

CAMPUS AND FACILITIES: Walsh Jesuit’s 110-acre campus features ve outdoor athletic elds, a 5,000-meter cross country track and a 1,600seat gymnasium. In addition, it has a eldhouse, a wrestling room, a renovated, college-like kitchen and an All Sports Complex. And it offers the Klein Fitness Facility — an 8,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art, brand-new tness facility — which provides Walsh Jesuit (WJ) students new equipment, enabling more advanced movements. As a result of these offerings, the atmosphere surrounding the development of WJ students has never been better.

EXTRACURRICULAR PROGRAMS: WJ’s athletic success includes 46 team state championships and seven national championships. Among the top- ve winningest schools in the state, WJ also has a full-time director of strength and conditioning on staff. And it offers 46 clubs, including Academic Challenge/Quiz Bowl, Chinese Honor Society, Dance Team, Harmony Gold Show Choir, JustWrite Team and Science Olympiad.

UNIQUE STUDY OPTIONS/PROGRAMS:

International Studies Programs: WJ provides several programs to continue studies abroad. These include the Ignatian Scholars Program, which follows the steps of St. Ignatius through Spain, France and Italy. Offering an academic course/trip that explores 1st century Christian communities, the program also includes a two-week travel program across Italy.

Additionally, WJ provides a Latin Italy trip, which is an educational, immersive and fun extension of the students’ Latin classes. The trip includes visits to the churches and museums of Rome, the Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon and a host of other sites.

STEM:

This year, Walsh Jesuit launched a state-of-the-art, new STEM lab for our students, known as Malley’s Center for Design and Innovation. The lab houses 3-D printers; a CNC router; embroidery and sewing machines, including a serger machine, a laser cutter and engravers; scroll saws; vinyl cutters and

a vinyl printer/cutter; a variety of hand tools and 24 student workstations, each of which has its own laptop.

In addition, WJ offers an extensive variety of STEM courses, along with multiple co-curricular STEM clubs, such as Chemistry Club, Math Club and Robotics Club.

FACULTY: Eighty-two percent of WJ teachers hold advanced degrees.

ALUMNI:

• Ryan Armour ’94 and Chase Johnson ’14, PGA

Tour members

• Dominic Canzone ‘16, out elder, Seattle Mariners

• Ryan Feltner ’15, pitcher, Colorado Rockies

• Emyrson Flora ’23, American Idol nalist

• Mike Vrabel ’93, a former NFL linebacker, as well as the Tennessee Titans’ head coach, who was named the NFL Head Coach of the Year in 2021

FINANCIAL AID: To ensure WJ is available to all quali ed applicants, we offer over $3.5 million in tuition assistance per year, including scholarships and need-based nancial aid. Last year, more than 70% of all WJ students received tuition assistance.

FALL OPEN HOUSE: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., Sept. 28

- Tour the school and explore our beautiful, 110-acre campus

- Meet with admissions and nancial aid staff to learn about the enrollment process

- Meet with faculty and coaches to learn about our academic, athletic and extracurricular programs

Mission Statement: Walsh Jesuit, a Catholic, college preparatory high school in the spirit of St. Ignatius Loyola, reaches beyond academic excellence to develop competence, conscience and compassion within its graduates. As a Christ-centered community, we value inclusion and strive to be men and women for — and with — others.

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