New director named for Leadership Cleveland

Jolyn Parker

Jolyn B. Parker has been named Director of Leadership Cleveland, a program of Cleveland Leadership Center that empowers recognized and senior-level positional leaders to increase and advance their positive impact on Cleveland. She also will direct the LC2 Fellows program, in which Leadership Cleveland alumni engage in a project-based, outcome-driven civic engagement experience.

Ms. Parker will begin working at CLC July 25 and will launch the Leadership Cleveland Class of 2023 this fall, and the LC2 Fellows Class of 2023.

“Jolyn is an inspiring and empowering leader herself, having had decades of executive service in nonprofit and corporate positions,” said Marianne Crosley, CLC President and CEO. “She has the skills and the passion to direct our programs that inspire and empower leaders to transform Cleveland.”

Crosley noted that Parker’s strong Cleveland roots position her well for the role. Parker grew up in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood of the city and graduated from Shaker Heights High School. She was inducted into the Shaker Heights Hall of Fame in 1992.

Parker was living in San Diego and deeply involved in many community activities when the pandemic hit three years ago. She returned to Cleveland and continued to work virtually as Vice President of External Relations at a San Diego agency focused on aging. She previously served as Chief Marketing Officer of the San Diego Hospice and has held roles in higher education and business.

“I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with leaders in my hometown,” Ms. Parker said. “People who are leaders want to make a difference, and Leadership Cleveland can help them do that. It’s about bringing people together around ideas, around challenges, and around how collectively they can contribute toward greater civic impact.”

She holds a Bachelor of Professional Studies in Nonprofit Management from the State University of New York and an associate’s degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology at SUNY. She earned a Certificate from the College for the Distributive Trades at the College of London, England.

She has served on a number of nonprofit boards, including Friends of Breakthrough Public Schools which she joined after returning to Cleveland. She and her husband reside in Avon.

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About the Cleveland Leadership Center (CLC)

The Cleveland Leadership Center’s mission is to build a continuum of civic leaders committed to our community’s excellence by serving as a catalyst for civic engagement. CLC inspires and connects people to transform Cleveland by developing leaders of all age through learning and community engagement opportunities.

Media contact
Michael E. Bennett, Vice President of External Affairs
Work: (216) 592-2426, Cell: (216) 408-3874, mbennett@cleveleads.org