Cleveland Executive Fellowship Class of 2008-2009
Gwen A. Forté is a resident of Cleveland’s Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. She earned her J.D. from Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and is a licensed attorney. Gwen also has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing and International Business from Ohio University and spent time abroad, studying at Hong Baptist University in Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong. Gwen came to the Fellowship after completing a two-year judicial clerkship with Magistrate Judge Kenneth S. McHargh, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio. During the Fellowship year, Gwen was placed with the Friends of Entrepreneurship Preparatory School, the Coral Company, the Eighth Appellate District Pro Bono Task Force, the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Corporation, and the City of Cleveland Mayor’s Office. Gwen is the Neighborhood Programs Manager in the Department of Neighborhood Revitalization at the City of Shaker Heights, Ohio.
Alicia Graves is a native Clevelander and joins the Fellowship after working as a Juvenile Justice Unit Law Clerk for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office and serving in The Republic of Rwanda, Africa with a Human Rights Delegation. Alicia earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and American Studies from Case Western Reserve University and recently completed her studies at The University of Akron School of Law. She is an active volunteer, both locally and internationally, serving The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, Akron Municipal Court, Sisters of Rwanda and many others. Alicia has traveled as a student to Haiti, Africa and the Netherlands.
Jenita McGowan is currently working as a nonprofit consultant for Neighborhood Connections' You Can Count on Me Campaign and at Urban Community School as the Healthy Lifestyles Coordinator. She earned a Masters in Nonprofit Organizations at Case Western Reserve University and worked recently as an Assistant to Cleveland City Councilman, Joe Cimperman. Originally from Columbus, OH, Jenita earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and a Bachelor of Science in Magazine Journalism from Kent State University. She began her career in Cleveland’s nonprofit sector as a professional modern dancer. Jenita is also a freelance choreographer and has recently created dance works for Ingenuity Fest and for the Antaeus Dance company.
Merissa C. Piazza is originally from Troy, MI and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Spanish Language and Literature from Oakland University in Rochester Hills, MI. She then went on to earn a Master of Public and International Affairs in Global Political Economy from the University of Pittsburgh. Merissa also studied abroad in Valencia, Spain at the Institute of Spanish Studies. Most recently she worked as an Economist for the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington, DC. Merissa co-authored a paper, “Business Employment Dynamics data: survival and longevity, II” which was published in Monthly Labor Review.
Jeanne Romanoff is a Cleveland native and joined the Fellowship after working in the city’s non-profit and public sectors, having worked with the Cleveland Council on World Affairs and Cleveland City Council. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh. Jeanne is passionate about the city of Cleveland and urban renewal, issues at the core of "Emerging Cleveland," a program she co-coordinates and which is designed to promote Cleveland's neighborhoods to non-Clevelanders. She is also a member of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance’s City Advocates Program and has been an active volunteer with numerous campaigns. During the Fellowship, Jeanne’s focused her placements on government relations, community affairs and public policy. She conducted placements with U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, Charter One Bank, the Urban League of Greater Cleveland, Policy Matters Ohio and the Greater Cleveland Partnership. Jeanne now works as Director of Development for the Greater Cleveland Film Commission.
Emilie Zickel most recently worked as Program Manager for City Year Cleveland. Originally from Cleveland, Emilie earned her Bachelor of Arts in French from Miami University in Oxford, OH, which included a semester abroad through the International Partnership for Service-Learning. Upon graduation, she served one year as an Americorps Member at City Year Cleveland, then two years in the Peace Corps as a Community Health Educator in Guinea, West Africa. Emilie subsequently obtained a Master of Arts in English from Cleveland State University, where she has taught several first-year writing courses.