Rachael Sommer is the director of Operations and Partnerships at the Mary Ann Swetland Center for Environmental Health. Her primary areas of focus include racial and health equity and positive organizational development. She completed a Bachelor's in Social Work from Bowling Green State University with a minor in Spanish and a Masters in Social Science Administration from the Mandel School of Applied Social Science at Case Western Reserve University with an emphasis in Community and Social Development. Rachael is currently enrolled in the Weatherhead School of Management Part-Time MBA program at CWRU, expected graduation: 2025.
Ms. Sommer brings diverse community-based experiences to the Swetland Center. She worked as a frontline social worker doing family preservation counseling with FrontLine Services (formerly Mental Health Services). These experiences fostered her interest in policy-level changes to systematically improve the lives of Cleveland residents and motivated her decision to work as an assistant for Joe Cimperman (Ward 3), a former member of the Cleveland City Council. Her passion for public health grew further during her tenure as the coordinator of the Healthy Cleveland Initiative at the Cleveland Department of Public Health.
Prior to her role at the Swetland Center, Rachael served as the program manager for the FreshLink Ambassador Research project which was the Core Research of the Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods (PRCHN) at Case Western Reserve University.
Ms. Sommer proudly serves on the Board of the Rollin'Buckeyez foundation. She is an Alumni of the Women Staff Leadership Development Institute at Case Western Reserve University. She is an active member of her church, West Side Alliance, in Cleveland’s Ohio City Neighborhood. Ms. Sommer lives in Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood with her husband, Ron and children, Ezekiel and Madeline. Her favorite ways to stay grounded include: exercise, exploring the national parks with her family, spending time with loved ones and exploring the city she loves so dearly, Cleveland.