This just in: Free tickets are now available for the 2017 Cleveland Foundation Annual Meeting presented by KeyBank! This year’s meeting will be held on May 10 in the State Theatre at Playhouse Square. The theme is “Building Common Ground.”

“The theme of this year’s meeting, ‘Building Common Ground,’ emphasizes this annual opportunity for Greater Clevelanders to reflect on our shared accomplishments in the past year, while envisioning future investments we can all make in people, places and programs to advance virtually every aspect of our community,” said Ronn Richard, Cleveland Foundation President & CEO.

Here are a few meeting highlights that attendees can look forward to:

Compelling Speakers

The Robert D. Gries Keynote Lecture will be delivered this year by Steve Case, Chairman & CEO of Revolution LLC, co-founder of America Online, author of bestseller The Third Wave, and Chairman of The Case Foundation. Case will deliver the lecture in conversation with Dan Moulthrop, President and CEO of The City Club of Cleveland.

Our President & CEO Ronn Richard will provide annual State of the Community remarks in conversation with WKYC’s Russ Mitchell. Attendees will also hear from KeyBank Foundation Chair and CEO Margot Copeland and Cleveland Foundation Board Chair Rev. Dr. Stephen Rowan.

A Celebration of Community

The annual meeting will include the presentation of the 2017 Homer C. Wadsworth Award, given annually to a local leader who demonstrates creativity, innovation, ingenuity, risk-taking and good humor in a civic, volunteer, nonprofit or public sector role. We look forward to announcing this year’s winner from the stage!  

Performances by local artists will open and close the annual meeting program. Students from Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C)’s Creative Arts Dance Academy will kick things off with a performance based on Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly, who is among our 2017 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winners. We recently announced a $300,000 grant to support the expansion of Tri-C’s Creative Arts Dance Academy programming as part of our Mastery Arts Initiative. Dancers from Verb Ballets will close the program with a performance of the Don Quixote Grand Pas de Deux staged by Creative Fusion: Cuba Edition artist Laura Alonso.

Following the annual meeting program, attendees are invited to stay for a community reception to enjoy Cuba-inspired food and drink in honor of our Creative Fusion: Cuba Edition artist residency this spring.

The Schedule – May 10

3:30 p.m. – Doors Open at the State Theatre

4 p.m. – Program Begins

5:30 p.m. – Program Ends; Community Reception Begins

7:30 p.m. – Event End

Get Your Tickets

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