Board of Directors
David Beach
Director of the GreenCityBlueLake Institute
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
David Beach is the director of the GreenCityBlueLake Institute, the sustainability center of The Cleveland Museum of Natural History. The Institute was formed in 2007 from the merger of the Museum and EcoCity Cleveland, a nationally recognized center of thought and practice about urban sustainability. The Institute maintains the popular GreenCityBlueLake.org website, the interactive online home of the sustainability community in Northeast Ohio. The site is helping to spread the word that Cleveland is truly becoming a green city on a blue lake.
David Beach has been writing and speaking about the environment, neighborhood development and regional planning issues for more than 25 years. He has deep roots in Northeast Ohio; his family has lived there for six generations. He is a graduate of Harvard University.
Laura N. Brunner
Executive Vice President, Business Development
Al. Neyer, Inc.
Laura Brunner joined Al. Neyer in 2008 to expand the company through new business lines and strategic partnership and geographic growth opportunities. She has a track record of results-driven leadership in her over 30-year career, first as a certified public accounting professional and later as a well-rounded organizational expert, adept at planning and executing strategic initiatives. Since 2005, Laura has dedicated her skills to the commercial real estate industry, most recently at Cassidy Turley, a $300 million (sales) commercial real estate brokerage firm, where she was the firm’s first woman managing principal and the only woman who served on its executive committee and board.
At Al. Neyer, Laura is at the forefront of all client, partner and broker relationships, and serves on the company’s Executive Committee. She is the recipient of numerous industry and community recognition – most recently from Real Estate Forum Women of Influence and the YWCA Career Women of Achievement.
Michael Ervin, M.D.
Dr. Mike Ervin is co-chair of the Dayton region’s effort to develop the Greater Downtown Dayton Plan, a comprehensive and strategic business plan for the greater downtown area. Currently, Dr. Ervin also is co-chair of the Downtown Dayton Partnership Board of Trustees and has been leading efforts to develop the Oregon Arts District.
A longtime resident of the Dayton community, Dr. Ervin was the founder and former CEO of Wright Health Associates, which managed the health care of 250,000 Dayton-area residents. Currently, he is chairman of the board of CareSource, a non-profit company that manages the medical care of more than 800,000 people in Ohio. He also was the former director of the Emergency and Trauma Center at Miami Valley Hospital and a past president of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Roberta F. Garber
Executive Director
Community Research Partners
Roberta F. Garber has been Executive Director of Community Research Partners since 2001. Community Research Partners is a unique nonprofit research center based in Columbus, Ohio. CRP's work strengthens Ohio communities through data, information and knowledge.
Previously, Bobbie operated Roberta F. Garber Consulting, providing strategic planning, facilitation, research, evaluation and grant writing services for public and non-profit sector clients. From 1983-93 she was Assistant Deputy Director and Deputy Director for Community Development at the Ohio Department of Development. She has also been a city planner for the cities of Kettering and West Carrollton, Ohio. She holds a Bachelor of Urban Planning from the University of Cincinnati and an M.A. from the University of Dayton.
Presley L. Gillespie
Executive Director Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation
Presley L. Gillespie is Executive Director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation. Previously, Presley enjoyed a successful 18 year banking career, primarily focused on community development lending and community revitalization. He served as Vice President for KeyBank where he was responsible for identifying, structuring and closing community development/commercial real estate loans that ultimately led to the creation of affordable housing, economic development and job creation. Active in his community, he serves on the board of trustees for the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, the board of visitors for Youngstown State University’s College of Fine and Performing Arts, and member of Eastgate Regional Council of Government’s Economic Development Committee. In 2010 he was appointed by Governor Strickland to the Board of Trustees of the Eastern Gateway Community College.
Presley holds a B.A. in organizational communication from Youngstown State University. He has resided for 15 years in Youngstown, Ohio with his wife Nora and their two children.
Christopher Jones, Board Chair
Senior Counsel
Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP
Christopher Jones provides firm clients with a seasoned perspective on government relations, environmental and regulatory issues, as well as a unique understanding of both state and federal environmental law enforcement agencies. Chris has nearly 20 years of environmental experience -- six years as director of the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, four years as chief of the Ohio Attorney General’s Environmental Enforcement Section and five years as an environmental attorney in the private sector prior to joining Calfee in 2005.
Chris’ accomplishments include being the only two-term elected president of the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), a national organization of all of the directors of state environmental agencies. He also has been a member of the board of directors for the Environmental Research Institute of the States (ERIS), chairman of the Lake Erie Commission, governor-appointed member of the Great Lakes Commission, member of Ohio’s Security Task Force, and is currently a member of the board of trustees of the Nature Conservancy, Ohio Chapter. Chris is also a member of the Ohio and Columbus Bar Associations and has been recognized as one of America’s Leading Lawyers in Chambers USA.
Hal Keller, Treasurer
President
Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing
Hal Keller has been with Ohio Capital Corporation since its inception; first as Director of Development and then as President since 1993. Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing is an independent, non-profit corporation created by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency in 1989.
Hal has been involved in affordable housing for over 30 years as a consultant to state and local government, an administrator of state and local housing programs, and as a neighborhood organizer and tenant advocate. He holds a Master of Arts degree in both Public Administration and Social Work from The Ohio State University and a Bachelor of Science in Applied Social Science from Case Western Reserve University
Larry Long
Executive Director
County Commissioners Association of Ohio
Larry Long is the Executive Director of the County Commissioners Association of Ohio, beginning his career with the Association in 1974. Long previously served as the Chief of the Bureau of Community Development Services and the Bureau of Land Use Planning for the Ohio Department of Development; was involved in the Ohio Appalachia program; served as the Executive Secretary of the Ohio Water and Sewer Rotary Commission; and represented the Director on the Ohio Power Siting Board.
Prior to his employment with the State of Ohio he was Director of the Ottawa County Regional Planning Commission and served as an Intelligence Specialist with the U. S. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) at the Pentagon. Long presently serves as a member of the Board of the Ohio Planning Conference. He served on Governor Voinovich’s Farmland Preservation Task Force and was appointed by former Governor Taft to the Eminent Domain Task Force. Long, a native of Wadsworth, in Medina County, received a BA in Geography from the Ohio State University in 1968.
Robert H. Milbourne
President and CEO
RHM Advisors LLC
Robert Milbourne heads RHM Advisors, a business consulting firm, specializing in business strategy, financing, government affairs, and project development. He also consults on public policy issues at the federal, state, and local levels.
From 2002 to 2009, Milbourne was the first President & CEO of the Columbus Partnership, a civic organization of top business, education and community leaders formed to improve the economic future of Central Ohio. He came to Columbus after serving as CEO of a similar group in Milwaukee for 17 years. Prior to his work in Milwaukee, he enjoyed a career in government and business. Milbourne earned his Bachelor’s degree in economics with honors at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He also has a Masters in Public Policy at the University of Wisconsin and attended the Harvard Business School where he completed the Advanced Management Program.
Margaret "Peg" Moertl
Senior Vice President
PNC Bank
A Cincinnati native, Peg Moertl has worked for over 20 years in Community Development to revitalize urban neighborhoods and low-moderate income communities. A senior vice president with PNC Bank, Peg is the East Territory Executive responsible for Community Development Banking in Western Pennsylvania, South and Central Ohio, Kentucky and Southern Indiana, overseeing innovative loans, investments, grants and service leadership aimed primarily at the inner city hearts of our region. She is a leader in place matters, a unique place-based funders collaborative with communities to stimulate revitalization in three target neighborhoods.
Among other achievements, Peg was a Cincinnati Leading Woman, Cincinnati Business Courier Forty Under 40 honoree, a Fannie Mae Fellow and graduate of the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at Harvard’s JFK School, and a member of Leadership Cincinnati Class XXIII. In 2009, she was recognized for her lifetime of effort by the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission as a Champion Connecting Communities and Cultures.
Jim Petro, Board Vice-Chair
Chancellor
Board of Regents
Jim Petro is Chancellor of Ohio’s Board of Regents. As Chancellor, Petro leads the University System of Ohio which is one of the largest comprehensive systems of public higher education in the nation. As former Ohio Attorney General and Auditor of State of Ohio, Mr. Petro has been an active public official for more than 30 years. As Attorney General, Mr. Petro was actively involved in trial and appellate courts on behalf of the State, and was the first Ohio Attorney General in nearly 40 years to personally argue before the United States Supreme Court.
Recognized as an accomplished and dedicated public official who has implemented positive change and internal improvements, Mr. Petro has also been widely recognized throughout his years in private law practice. Prior to becoming Chancellor, Petro served as a partner-in-charge at Roetzel & Andress, a well-known comprehensive law firm with a number of offices across Ohio and Florida, and in New York and Washington, D.C.
Joel Ratner
President
Neighborhood Progress, Inc.
Joel Ratner is currently the President of Neighborhood Progress, Inc. (NPI) a non-profit intermediary supporting the redevelopment of Cleveland’s neighborhoods. NPI provides operating support, technical assistance and training for Cleveland’s community development corporations and through its subsidiaries Village Capital and New Village Corporation finances and develops a range of real estate projects. Before joining NPI, Joel served as President of the Raymond John Wean Foundation where he led the Foundation in its comprehensive effort to advance the Mahoning Valley. Before coming to the Wean Foundation, Joel led the Neighborhood Connections Program at The Cleveland Foundation and prior to that Joel served as Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
Joel serves on the Steering Committee of Grassroots Grantmakers, an organization supporting the development of grassroots funding and engagement by funders, as well as the boards of the Cleveland Hillel Foundation, and chairs the Harvest for Hunter Allocations Committee at the Cleveland Foodbank.