Community Representatives
Sandra Brinson
Community Representing: Glenville - Ward 9
Sandra Brinson has lived in Glenville her entire life. Her parents bought a home there when she was four years old and her sister still lives in the house today. Brinson, a retired Cleveland Metropolitan School District elementary school principal and special education teacher, now lives closer to Case Western Reserve University, but still in Glenville, just north of campus. “I’m always proud to say that I’m from Glenville,” she says. Read more about Sandra Brinson.
Darrell Fields
Community Representing: Forest Hill - East Cleveland
Neighborhood Advisory Council member Darrell A. Fields is an attorney with Forbes, Fields & Associates Co., L.P.A. and a 32-year resident of the City East Cleveland, Ohio.
"Case Western Reserve University is uniquely situated at the intersection of education, research and commerce," says Fields. "As a member of the Neighborhood Advisory Council, it is important that we provide a guiding light to assist the university in its institutional efforts to assure that the surrounding neighborhoods and all residents of Cleveland and East Cleveland share in the benefits of proximity to such a uniquely situated university." Read more about Darrell Fields.
Gwen Gaffenreed
Community Representing: Buckeye-Shaker - Ward 6
Born in raised in Cleveland, Gwen Graffenreed has lived in the Buckeye-Shaker neighborhood for more than 30 years. "Serving on the Neighborhood Advisory Council is a very rewarding experience, especially meeting other community leaders and staff at Case Western Reserve," she says. "It’s important to me to be engaged and to embrace the diversity in our communities with families, children and stakeholders." Read more about Gwen Graffenreed.
Gwen Garth
Community Representing: Central - Ward 5
Central resident Gwendolyn Garth has lived near University Circle her entire life—she grew up living in Hough, Central, Glenville and Fairfax. And as a longtime community member, she has paid close attention to the relationship between the institutions in University Circle and the residents who live in the surrounding neighborhoods.
“In the past, organizations have said that they wanted to help with change, but then, there’s not always been the support and the resources to implement it,” Garth says. “But today, the community is participating in change. We’re not just being presented with a plan and asked what we think of it. Now, we’re helping to create the plan.” Read more about Gwen Garth.
Kevinee Gilmore
Community Representing: Saint Clair Superior - Ward 7
Myra L. Golden
Community Representing: Glenville - Ward 9
Myra L. Golden is a 60 year resident of the Glenville neighborhood and a Case alumni. She is a retired Contract Eval./Negotiator for Cuyahoga County. Ms. Golden was responsible for Early Childhood Education contracts and coordinated Refugee Services along with other social service contracts.
Vincent Holland
Community Representing: Glenville - Ward 9
PhD, Urban Studies and Public Affairs, Cleveland State University (CSU), (2014); MPA, CSU (1991); MS, Sociology, CWRU (1979); BA, Political Science (1975); License in Chemical Dependency Counseling (LICDC, Ohio).
Work History: Cuyahoga County Probation Department (1980-2013) retired as Chief Probation Officer; Chemical Dependency Inpatient and Outpatient Programs at the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals; Presently a lecturer in the Sociology Department at Cuyahoga Community College.
Involved in the community as a member of the Board of Directors for Community Action Against Addiction, Partners in Justice, re-entry committees for housing and mental health, Community-Based Corrections Facility; CWRU African-American Alumni Association and other social justice organizations. Read more about Vincent Holland.
Rita Knight-Gray
Community Representing: Glenville - Ward 9
Rita Knight-Gray has been a Glenville resident for 65 years and is a member of the Case Western Reserve Neighborhood Advisory Council. "My neighborhood has been stagnant and without hope for almost 60 years, so I completed the Foundations of Community Building course, which later led to being a member of the Neighborhood Advisory Council. I began to believe I had found a way to assist with returning hope and rebuilding my neighborhood." Read more about Rita Knight-Gray.
Diane Pride-Mays
Community Representing: Larchmere - Ward 6
Stephanie Stedmire-Walls MSW, SSW, LSW
Community Representing: East Cleveland
Received her master's degree from Case Western Reserve University's Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences (CWRU-MSASS). She was one of the first Stokes Scholars to graduate. Currently, she serves as Vice President of the East Cleveland City School District (ECCSD) Board of Education, is a member of the Eta Phi Beta Sorority, Ladies of Peter Claver, Cleveland Association of Story Tellers (both Ohio and National), the Ohio Notary Association, and is a very active member of the East Cleveland community. She recently served as President of the East Cleveland Neighborhood Center. Before retiring from Centers for Families and Children as a Psychiatric Therapist, her office was in the Stephanie Tubbs Jones Center. For 20 years she was a Social Worker in the East Cleveland City School District. She has lived in the same East Cleveland residence for over 49 years with children and a grandchild who have been educated by and graduated from the East Cleveland City Schools.
Leon Stevenson
Community Representing: Glenville - Ward 9
Cleveland native Leon Stevenson is an entrepreneur, former steel worker, and general contractor who is strongly dedicated to his faith and his community. He has won several awards for his work, but is most proud of his commendation for community service in District 5 and Ward 9. He serves on the ward's Executive Democratic Committee, as well as the ASC3 board. Stevenson is an active member of Lee Seville Full Gospel Baptist Church. He is very proud of his four children, all of whom have received master's degrees.
Regennia N. Williams, PhD
Community Representing: Larchmere - Ward 6
Dr. Regennia Williams is the Distinguished Scholar of African American History and Culture at Western Reserve Historical Society and a member of the Case Western Reserve Neighborhood Advisory Council.
"The Neighborhood Advisory Council is comprised of a wonderfully diverse group of highly motivated individuals. Working with my NAC colleagues helps me gain a better understanding of Case Western Reserve programs and policies and encourages me to consider the ways in which the members of the campus community and individuals and institutions in the surrounding neighborhoods might work together for the common good," she says. Read more about Williams.
Community-Based Organizations
Representative: John Anoliefo, Executive Director
Glenville - Ward 9
John Anoliefo is the Executive Director of Famicos Foundation--a community development corporation (CDC)--since August 2022. He administers a large staff of professionals in accounting, community building, engagement, real estate development, property management, and social services. Under his leadership, Famicos has grown from a small project-based CDC to owning and managing more than 1000 units of affordable housing for families, seniors, the disabled, and chronically unhoused.
Before coming to Famicos, he was the Executive Director for the Buckeye Area Development Corporation (BADC), overseeing transformational projects in the Buckeye neighborhood such as the Buckeye/E. 116th intersection retail district, which earned the first ever large grant from Cleveland Neighborhood Progress. Before heading up BADC, he worked with the City of East Cleveland for eight years.
John has a BS in Economics from Lake Erie College, and an MA in Public Administration from the University of Akron. He is also a graduate of the Executive Program in Community Development at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
He has received numerous awards, including the Key to the City of Cleveland, Jaycees Outstanding Young Men of America, Kaleidoscope Magazine for "Making a Difference in Cleveland Communities and Community Development," and the Cleveland Foundation for his work in helping shape our community identity.
John is a native Nigerian and has lived in the Cleveland area for the past 42 years. He and his wife of 37 years, Uchenna, reside in Glenville and are blessed with four adult children: Ifey, Chika, Kene, and Oge. Read more about John Anoliefo.
Hessler Neighborhood Association
Representative: Laura Cyrocki, President
University Circle - Ward 6
Representative: Sheffia Randall-Nickerson
University Circle - Ward 9
CWRU Faculty & Staff Representatives
Elizabeth Banks
Director, Center for Civic Engagement and Learning, Division of Student Affairs
Ainsley Buckner
Director of Community Engagement, think[box]
Community Representing: Cleveland Heights
When Ainsley Buckner arrived at think[box] as a community user and artist-educator, she never imagined that she’d one day be working at the innovation space full time. Buckner, who joined think[box] six years ago and is the director of prototyping art and community engagement, isn’t an engineer—she has a bachelor’s degree in fine arts with a concentration in sculpture and printmaking. But her experience, creativity and perspective makes her an ideal member of the think[box] team. “Once I was here, I realized that we embrace a multidisciplinary background approach,” she says. “Having an ecosystem of people with a diverse set of professional and personal backgrounds really promotes innovation.” Learn more about Ainsley Buckner
Janice Eatman Williams (NAC Co-President)
Director, FOCUS Programs, Student-Based Outreach
Community Representing: Glenville - Ward 9
Janice A. Eatman Williams was born in Hough and raised in Glenville. She has been an advocate and activist for access and excellence in education for young people for more than three decades. Today, she is the director of Case Western Reserve University's FOCUS Programs - School-Based Outreach. Read more about Eatman Williams.
CWRU Student Representatives
Amber Byrd
Community Representing: Hough - Ward 7
NAC student representative Amber Byrd is a graduate teaching assistant at Case Western Reserve University who is pursuing a PhD in sociology. Representing the Hough neighborhood (Ward 7), Byrd is a highly engaged member of the university community, where she serves as a graduate student representative on the search committee for the Department of Sociology and previously served as the vice president of the Sociology Graduate Student Association. Read more about Amber Byrd
Fatima Sagier
Community Representing: University Circle - Ward 6
Community Innovation Network Partners
Mark Chupp, MSW, PhD, Founding Director
JP Graulty, MA, Program Manager