Board of Directors

The Cleveland Foundation’s board of directors comprises well-respected individuals who govern the foundation, establish policy, set priorities, and make final grant decisions. All members are unpaid volunteers serving staggered five-year terms, for a maximum of 10 years. The foundation’s appointment process ensures that the board represents a diverse range of views and knowledge. The board is divided into three classes with five members in each class. Local governmental or quasi-governmental appointing authorities choose five members. The Bank Trustees Committee appoints five. The board itself names five.

Charles Bolton

Chair
Appointed 2004 by the chief judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio

Charles Bolton Bolton is chairman of Brittany Stamping, a Cleveland private investment firm that owns four manufacturing companies, and Polychem Corp., a Mentor manufacturer of extruded polypropylene and polyester strapping used in commercial packaging. He is also the former director of the Ohio Department of Development's Office of International Trade and a former member of the Ohio Senate. Bolton is a trustee of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Musical Arts Association, and the Kelvin and Eleanor Smith Foundation; an honorary trustee of Case Western Reserve University; and a life trustee of Hawken School. He holds a bachelor's degree in American history from Harvard College and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Frank C. Sullivan

Vice Chair
Appointed 2004 by the Bank Trustees Committee

Frank Sullivan is the president and chief executive officer of RPM International, a Fortune 1000 maker of specialty coatings and sealants. He held various commercial lending and corporate finance positions at Harris Bank and First Union National Bank prior to joining RPM as a regional sales manager. He serves on the board of the Greater Cleveland Chapter of the American Red Cross, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, and the Timken Co. Sullivan was president of Leadership Cleveland’s Class of 2001 and is a member of the Cuyahoga County Bluecoats. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina as a Morehead Scholar in 1983.

Inajo Davis Chappell

Appointed 2010 by the Board of Directors

Inajo Davis Chappell is a partner with the law firm of Ulmer & Berne. She serves as chair of the firm’s Nonprofit Group, representing a wide range of nonprofit organizations as well as for-profit businesses and public institutions. Her legal expertise focuses on various aspects of corporate law and governance, general business transactions, and commercial real estate acquisition, development, construction, and financing. Chappell sits on the boards of several organizations, including the Cleveland Leadership Center, Ohio Board of Voting Machine Examiners, Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, and Medical Mutual of Ohio Charitable Foundation. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and a juris doctorate from Columbia Law School.

Paul J. Dolan 

Appointed 2008 by the Bank Trustees Committee

Paul Dolan is president of the Cleveland Indians, a position he has held since 2004. Previously, he served as vice president/general counsel for the team. Prior to that, Dolan was a partner for 17 years at Thrasher, Dinsmore & Dolan, a law firm based in his native Chardon, Ohio. He graduated with a bachelor of science degree from St. Lawrence University and earned his juris doctorate from the University of Notre Dame Law School.

David Goldberg

Appointed 2002 by the Board of Directors

David Goldberg serves as principal at Edgerton Investments. He is a member of the boards of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, Neighborhood Progress, University Hospitals, and the National Conference for Community and Justice. In 2003, he and other members of Cleveland's Jewish and Palestinian communities formed an organization called Ishmael & Isaac to help victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Goldberg earned a bachelor of science degree from Ohio State University and a juris doctorate from Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

Joseph P. Keithley

Appointed 2002 by the Board of Directors

Joseph Keithley is former chairman of the board, president, and chief executive officer of Keithley Instruments, which develops measuring and metering instruments for high-tech electronics manufacturing. He holds a bachelor of science and a master of operations in research and industrial engineering from Cornell University and an MBA from the University of Michigan. Keithley is a trustee of Case Western Reserve University, Judson Retirement Community, and the Greater Cleveland Partnership. He is on the advisory board of Cornell University’s Electrical Engineering School. Keithley is a vice chairman of the NorTech and the Ohio Aerospace Council. He is also a member of the corporate council of the Cleveland Museum of Art, a director of Brush Engineered Materials and Nordson Corp., and an advisor to Early Stage Partners.

Frederick R. Nance

Appointed 2005 by the Bank Trustees Committee

Fred Nance serves as the regional managing partner of Squire Sanders & Dempsey, where he heads the firm's sports and entertainment practice, and serves as general counsel to the Cleveland Browns. His legal practice has included numerous jury trials, project development through public-private partnerships, and contract negotiations. Much of his practice in recent years included high-stakes negotiations involving community interests, and he participates often in alternative dispute resolution proceedings. An array of business and legal groups and publications have recognized him as one of the nation's top lawyers. He serves on many boards, including the Cleveland Clinic, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, and the 50 Club of Cleveland.

Sandra Pianalto

Appointed 2004 by the board of directors

Sandra Pianalto has been president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland since 2002. She joined the bank in 1983 as a research economist. She is a member of the board of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, University Hospitals Health System, United Way of Greater Cleveland, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education, and the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Foundation. She holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Akron and a master's degree in economics from George Washington University.

Maria Jose Pujana, M.D.

Appointed 2002 by the Bank Trustees Committee

Dr. Maria Pujana is a clinical neurologist and neurophysiologist who is also deeply involved in the arts. She has been an adjunct instructor at Case Western Reserve University’s Center for Global Health and Diseases in the School of Medicine since 1994. She earned her medical degree from the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain, and was chief resident of the neurophysiology department at Veteran Hospitals there. She is a member of the board of the Cuyahoga Community College Foundation, MetroHealth Foundation, the Beck Center for the Arts, and the Cleveland chapter of the American Red Cross. She is president and designer of Marise Jewelry Designs.

Beth Oldenburg Rankin

Appointed 2011 by presiding judge, Cuyahoga County Probate Court

Beth Oldenburg Rankin was past co-president and is current co-chair of the board for the Cleveland Play House, where her involvement includes annual and capital fundraising,  facilities location review, strategic planning, and development of the agreement with Case Western Reserve University's Master of Fine Arts program. She also serves on the executive committee of Town Hall of Cleveland and is a past member of the board of Hathaway Brown and St. Paul's School for Boys in Baltimore.

James A. Ratner

Appointed 2006 by the administrative judge, 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals

James A. Ratner is chairman and chief executive officer of Forest City Commercial Group, a commercial-real-estate development and management division of Forest City Enterprises. Ratner is a board member of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Urban Land Institute, and Playhouse Square Foundation. He holds a bachelor's degree from Columbia University and a master's degree from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration.

Alayne Reitman

Appointed 2002 by the board of directors

Alayne Reitman is a trustee and assistant treasurer of Hawken School and a trustee of the Immerman Foundation and the Robert S. and Sylvia K. Reitman Family Foundation. She is also a member of the board of directors of Sifco Industries. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from Emory University and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Rev. Dr. Stephen Rowan

Appointed 2009 by the Bank Trustees Committee

Rev. Dr. Stephen Rowan has been senior pastor of Cleveland's Bethany Baptist Church since 1999. Previously, he served in a variety of roles at the Cleveland Foundation, including assistant director of development, program officer for faith-based and "digital divide" programs, and director of the foundation's economic development grantmaking. Prior to that, he had been a partner at the law firm of Ulmer & Berne, a deputy administrator for Cuyahoga County, and assistant director of the Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging. Rowan earned his doctor of ministry degree from Ashland Theological Seminary and his juris doctorate from the Cleveland Marshall College of Law.

Ratanjit S. Sondhe

Appointed 2008 by the Center for Community Solutions

Ratanjit Sondhe is founder and CEO of discoverhelp.com, as well as an acclaimed author, writer, and columnist. He has served as a keynote speaker at a variety of international conferences and other forums in which he speaks on stress management, ethics, and applied spirituality. Sondhe is also a radio and television host; has been a board member for the Kent State University School of Technology, the Urban League of Greater Cleveland, and the American Red Cross; and is founder and chair of both the Discoverhelp Foundation and the Business Association of Sikh Enterprises. He has master of science degrees in chemistry and polymer technology from universities in India. In addition, Sondhe is the founder and former CEO of POLY-CARB Inc., a material science company acquired by the Dow Chemical Company.

Ernest L. Wilkerson Jr.

Appointed 2011 by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson

Ernest L. Wilkerson Jr. is managing partner and founder of Wilkerson & Associates in Cleveland. He earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he edited the Law Review, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University. He serves on the boards of Cleveland State University (concluding in May 2011), Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, the National School Boards Association, and the Cleveland Convention Center Facilities Authority. Previously he served the Cleveland Foundation’s former McDonald Fund, a donor-advised fund.