Community Representatives
Sandy Brinson
Community Representing: Glenville - Ward 9
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 Graffenreed.
Gwen Garth
Community Representing: Central - Ward 9
Vince 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.
Doug Kerr
Community Representing: University Circle - Ward 9
Dr. Douglass Kerr received his MD and PhD in Biochemistry from CWRU in 1965. He has been licensed to practice medicine in Ohio since 1974. He completed four years of post-doctoral laboratory training in Biochemistry at the National Institutes of Health and University of the West Indies. He was the director of the Pediatric Special Laboratory (University Hospitals of Cleveland) from 1974 - 1988, and served as Associate Director of the Chemistry Laboratory in the Department of Pathology from 1988 - 1992. He has been Director (now Emeritus) of CIDEM from 1988 - 2014. Dr. Kerr is a member of the American Association of Clinical Chemists and is Past-President of the Society for Inherited Metabolic Disorders.
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.
Community Representing: Lower Fairfax - Ward 5
Twila Norris is a wife and mother of nine children. She is also an independent business owner of Central Notary Services, LLC, which includes her environmental services business as a Clearance Technician and Independent Dealer Title Clerk for Vehicle Registration.
Mrs. Norris is a Licensed, Ordained Minister (OH), Assistant Director of an Adult Day Care facility, and the CEO of Youth Economic Social Service, LLC (Y.E.S.S.) through which she hosts "Family Conversations: The Unspoken & Unseen Hand" to help families and caregivers bridge the gap to support loved ones that are challenged by family separation due to incarceration.
Among her many community initiatives, she created "Connecting the Community One Neighborhood at a Time, Central Celebration: Present, Past, and Future" celebrating Central neighborhood's unsung heroes. Mrs. Norris is also a Central Promise Neighborhood Ambassador, and a member of the Central Kinsman Food Co-op Steering Committee.
At CWRU, Mrs. Norris serves as Minority Advisory Board Member for the Cleveland Alzheimer's and Demential Research Center, is a Community Innovation Network Change Agent, and Neighborhood Advisory Council Member.
Sonya Shakir
Community Representing: Fairfax - Ward 6
Leon Stevenson
Community Representing: Glenville - Ward 9
Regennia Williams
Community Representing: Cedar-Central - Ward 5
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.
Myra Golden
Community Representing: Glenville - Ward 9
Community-Based Organizations
Representative: John Anoliefo, Executive Director
Glenville - Ward 9
“As a resident and leader of a nonprofit organization that shares a boundary with Case Western Reserve University, I feel honored to serve on the NAC. My hope is that my presence on the NAC will help bring to the surface the feelings and needs of Glenville residents. I feel—and I am not alone—that African Americans are not receiving optimum benefits from the billions of dollars in investments taking place in University Circle. I am on the NAC to serve as a bridge between the university and its northern neighbors in Glenville. As a premier educational institution, Case Western Reserve University is an economic engine which, if properly deployed, can and will be a game changer in the revitalization of Glenville.” Read more about John Anoliefo.
Neighborhood Leadership Institute
Representative: Trevelle Harp, Executive Director
East Cleveland
Trevelle Harp is the executive director of Neighborhood Leadership Institute (NLI), which aims to improve the quality of life for the people of greater Cleveland through grassroots leadership development and engagement. NLI offers programs for adult leadership development, youth leadership and youth development, mentorship opportunities for Cleveland Metropolitan School District students in grades 7 and 8, and community health equity work, among others. The nonprofit focuses on building collaborative projects and initiatives within neighborhoods. Harp previously worked at Northeast Ohio Alliance for Hope (NOAH) in East Cleveland. He joined NOAH in 2008 and served as its executive director since 2010. Harp is a graduate of Neighborhood Leadership Cleveland and the Community Development Corporation Leadership Program. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Fund for Our Economic Future. Read more about Trevelle Harp.
Representative: Arin Miller-Tait, Director of Education
University Circle (Ward 9)
Arin Miller-Tait currently serves as Director of Community Education at University Circle Inc.
In over a decade as an educator, she has served in both teaching and administrative roles, including founding Dean of Students at Bard High School Early College in the Cleveland Municipal School District.
Her work in the non-profit sector has focused on programs and strategy in community development, including youth and workforce development, community engagement, and K-12 education. She is the co-founder of Teaching Cleveland, a non-profit organization that connects students and teachers with the civic life of their city, for whom she currently serves as President of the Board.
At University Circle Inc, she leads the Community Education team to create and implement school- and community-based programming that connects the larger community with the resources of the Circle and represents the organization in a variety of outreach efforts to schools and institutions. She leads UCI’s Circle Partners Education collaborative, which focuses the efforts of museums and community-based organizations around equity, experiential learning, and school engagement, and manages the organization’s efforts in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access.
CWRU Faculty & Staff Representatives
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.
Ainsley Buckner
Community Representing: Cleveland Heights
Yulanda Prude (term beginning July 2023)
Community Representing: Glenville (Ward 9)
CWRU Student Representatives
Michelle Gotto
Community Representing: Downtown/Playhouse Square (Ward 3)
Amber Byrd
Community Representing: Hough (Ward 7)
Community Innovation Network Partners
Mark Chupp, MSW, PhD, Founding Director
JP Graulty, MA, Program Manager