Ronald B. Richard, President & CEO, The Cleveland Foundation
Ronn Richard has led the Cleveland Foundation since 2003. Within the last 30 years, he has held senior management positions in government, private enterprise and the nonprofit sector.
Early in his career, Mr. Richard was a diplomat, serving at the American consulate general in Osaka/Kobe, Japan, and at the U.S. State Department. He believes this background positioned him well for his work at the foundation, where diplomacy is key to collaboration. Mr. Richard’s 13 years at Matsushita Electric (Panasonic) included stints heading the company’s North American research and development operations and one of its largest sales companies, which taught him that achievement and learning come only with risk and, sometimes, failure.
Just before joining the foundation, Mr. Richard was managing director and chief operating officer of In-Q- Tel, the CIA’s venture capital fund.
Mr. Richard serves on the board of directors of Global Cleveland, NewBridge Cleveland Center for Arts & Technology, Hispanics in Philanthropy, and the Cleveland School of Science and Medicine. He is board chair of Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation and Evergreen Cooperative Corporation, and lead director of the board of directors of Emergent Biosolutions, a public biopharmaceutical company.
He holds a master’s degree in international relations from Johns Hopkins University and honorary doctorates from Baldwin Wallace University and Notre Dame College. In 2012, he was a scholar in residence at the University of Arkansas’ Clinton School of Public Service Center on Community Philanthropy. Mr. Richard is the recipient of the Council on Foundations' 2017 Distinguished Service Award.