UCP OF GREATER CLEVELAND - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Community Employment
Andrew Kruse became Chief Operations Officer in 2023 after serving UCP as Director of Business Operations, Associate Director of Oakleaf Services, Transition Services Coordinator and Job Placement Specialist. He holds a Bachelors Degree from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. Andrew has 10+ years of experience working with people with developmental disabilities. Previously, he has held positions in the residential and community employment settings. In his spare time, Andrew enjoys fishing, traveling, cooking and gardening with his wife.
Job Titles:
- Director, Cyber, Risk and Reg
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- Partner / Ernst & Young LLP
Beth Lucas became the President & CEO of UCP of Greater Cleveland in 2022 after serving as UCP's Chief Operations Officer for seven years and their Director of Development for five years prior to that. She has spent her entire career in the nonprofit sector, first specializing in fundraising and marketing. Beth's passion for program development and sustainability drove her to pursue the operational and administrative sides of the agency and, under her direction, UCP of Greater Cleveland and those they serve have benefited. Beth has a Master of Arts in Nonprofit Administration from John Carroll University and a Bachelor of Arts from Baldwin Wallace University. She is a graduate of the National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities Leadership Academy and engages in advocacy, outreach and fundraising efforts for UCP as well as various mental health-related groups.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Community Integration
Job Titles:
- Alternative Education Administrative Assistant
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- Partner / Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP
Celeste Isom joined UCP in July of 2019 as Director of Finance & Administration and was promoted to Chief Financial Officer in 2022. She has over 20 years of experience as an accountant and auditor. She has extensive knowledge of tax and financial accounting. Celeste has a Bachelor's degree from Ursuline College and a MBA from Cleveland State University. Celeste enjoys spending time with her children and reading.
Job Titles:
- Legal Counsel - Litigation / Global Operations & Technology / the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company
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- Children and Family Services Manager
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- Associate Professor & Orthopaedic Director, Chief Surgeon / the Spine Institute of University Hospitals
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board Officers Team
- Treasurer
- Vice Chair
Job Titles:
- Operations & Quality Assurance Specialist
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board Officers Team
- Secretary
Deborah Goldstein joined UCP of Greater Cleveland in April 2023. With a bachelor's degree in business management from Ursuline College, she brings experience from several top companies and nonprofits in the Cleveland area, such as Case Western Reserve University, Miami University, McKinsey & Company and Ernst & Young. Deborah's professional experience has focused on relationship building and fundraising - always with an eye toward improving the region and community in which she lives. A Lakewoodite for over 13 years, Deborah is an advocate and supporter of high-quality education for everyone and making opportunities available to those who have historically been excluded. She serves as a trustee and committee chair with Lakewood Ranger Education Foundation and the Parent Teacher Organization of Lakewood Public Schools, where her son is a student. Deb and her husband enjoy live music, traveling, film festivals, and their pooch, Duffy.
Job Titles:
- Education Services Manager
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- Group Home Program Manager and QIDP
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- Special Events and Marketing Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Community Inclusion
- UCP 's Associate Director of Community Inclusion
Hester Brown started as UCP's Associate Director of Community Inclusion in September of 2022. Hester has been with the agency seven years serving as Program Manager and Qualified Intellectual Disability Professional in Residential Services. Previously she held various management and programmatic roles over a career of 21 years in the field of Developmental Disabilities. She has worked as a Direct Support Professional. Hester also serves as a Guardian and Advocate for an individual in the community. She brings a love of person-centered planning and services to the community inclusion role.
Job Titles:
- Director of LeafBridge Services
- UCP in 1993 As an Occupational Therapist and Clinical Coordinator
Intesar Taye joined UCP in 1993 as an Occupational Therapist and Clinical Coordinator and became the Director of LeafBridge Services in 2003. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from Cleveland State University as well as certification in Threshold Electric Stimulation and is NDT trained. Intesar continually participates in workshops on issues relevant to her work, including spasticity management, sensory processing, Therasuit, neurodevelopment treatment and vision impairment. Her seventeen years of experience as an OT include screening, evaluating and treating children with a variety of motor disabilities and developmental delays. She also had the responsibility for assisting in the development of the research protocol and monitoring the research development of the Steps to Independence program. Intesar enjoys spending time with her four children, as well as doing puzzles and brain teasers.
Job Titles:
- 2nd Vice Chair
- Member of the Board Officers Team
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- Director of Business Development / Blue Point Capital Partners
Job Titles:
- Maintenance and Facilities Manager
Joe Kwasny - Managing Director, SVP
Job Titles:
- Global Technology Manager - Industrial Products / the Lubrizol Corporation
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Marketing
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Community Employment
Kate Adkins-Dix began her career with UCP of Greater Cleveland in 2014 as the Community Employment Manager and progressed into her current role as Associate Director of Community Employment in September 2022. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Bowling Green State University and a Master of Rehabilitation Counseling from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor through the Commission on Rehabilitation Counseling Certification. Kate has 16 years of experience in this field across various settings. Prior experiences include residential service provider, job coaching and career planning. Kate enjoys spending time at local museums, parks and zoos throughout Northeast Ohio with her two young daughters and her husband.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- President
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- VP Commercial Lending / First National Bank
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- Chairman
- Member of the Board Officers Team
- President of UBIZ Venture Capital
Michael Obi is the President of UBIZ Venture Capital, a minority led access to capital firm for small business ventures in the Greater Cleveland market and CEO of Spectrum Global Holdings, an economic development strategy firm. He also serves as EVP, Economic Development at the Urban League of Greater Cleveland. Michael's mission includes helping economic development organizations develop robust and inclusive entrepreneur initiatives to accelerate the growth of businesses and job creation in communities. In following with his passion that minorities should be more involved in entrepreneurship and job creation, Michael led the effort to establish the Entrepreneurship Center at the Urban League of Greater Cleveland in 2004. Michael earned his bachelor's degree in accounting and M.B.A. in Finance from the University of North Florida's Coggin School of Business in Jacksonville, Florida. He has held executive leadership positions with various banks and has spent a total of 17 years in the banking and financial services industry with in-depth expertise in accounting and finance, corporate banking, small business and retail banking, an unusual and unique combination for most bankers. Michael is active in the community where he serves on many economic development and human services boards.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer / Merit Brass Company
Job Titles:
- Senior Vice President, Medicare Advantage
Job Titles:
- Executive Director, Buildings
Job Titles:
- Director of OakLeaf Services
Paul Soprano became the Director of OakLeaf Services in 2014 after serving nine years as Director of Vocational Services and three years in Residential Services at UCP. He has a Bachelors Degree from John Carroll University and a Masters from Bowling Green State University. Paul has 20 years of experience in the Developmental Disabilities and Vocational Rehabilitation fields. Prior to UCP he was Supervisor of Work Evaluation, Facility Supervisor and Vocational Evaluator for a leading vocational rehabilitation provider in Cleveland. Paul is an avid world traveler and aviation enthusiast, volunteers as a Cleveland Hopkins Airport Ambassador and loves trying new restaurants.
Job Titles:
- Commercial Client Executive
Job Titles:
- Human Resources Generalist
Job Titles:
- Director of LeafBridge Services
Job Titles:
- Managing Director / Opportunity Capital LLC
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- Registered Nurse / Cleveland Clinic
Job Titles:
- Director, Global Services / Hyland Software, Inc.
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer, Ohio Medicaid ( Regional Vice President )
Job Titles:
- Transition Services Supervisor
Job Titles:
- Alternative Education Operations Manager
Job Titles:
- Community Integration Manager
Job Titles:
- Executive Administrative Assistant