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Global Cleveland Launch Party
Cleveland State University
May 25, 2011

Hundreds of people gathered in the CSU Student Center Ballroom for the Global Cleveland Summit. The Summit brought "community leaders, organizations and individuals to the table to brainstorm ideas for creating a more global and welcoming city."

The day began with a welcoming message from several individuals representing involved institutions.

Dan Walsh, President of Huntington National Bank

Dan Walsh, President of Huntington National Bank


Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson


Ron Berkman, President of CSU

Ron Berkman, President of CSU


Ronald Richard, President & CEO , The Cleveland Foundation

Ronald Richard, President & CEO, The Cleveland Foundation


Steve Hoffman, President, Jewish Federation of Cleveland

Steve Hoffman, President, Jewish Federation of Cleveland


After the welcome speeches, Kauser Razvi, the lead consultant on the Global Cleveland project, spoke about Building a Global Cleveland.

 Kauser Razvi

Kauser Razvi


 Kauser Razvi - Global Cleveland task at hand


Ms Razvi took a somewhat verbose mission statement and culled a few important words from it.

Global Cleveland mission statement

Global Cleveland mission statement



This was followed by a panel discussion of Creating a Welcoming Community that included:
  • Moderator Gregory L Brown - Executive Director, Policy Bridge
  • Elizabeth M. Hijar - Newcomer and Convencion Hispana Coordinator
  • Marina Markovich - Program Coordinator, Jewish Family Services Association of Cleveland
  • David Enzerra, Director of Public Affairs, Lubrizol Corporation
Each told their own story and shared ideas from their personal or organization's perspective,

Global Cleveland Summit panel


Moderator Gregory L Brown - Executive Director, Policy Bridge

Moderator Gregory L Brown - Executive Director, Policy Bridge


David Enzerra, Director of Public Affairs, Lubrizol Corporation

David Enzerra, Director of Public Affairs, Lubrizol Corporation




Marina Markovich, Program Coordinator, Jewish Family Services Association of Cleveland

Marina Markovich, Program Coordinator, Jewish Family Services Association of Cleveland




Elizabeth M. Hijar, Coordinator of Convencion Hispana

Elizabeth M. Hijar, Coordinator of Convencion Hispana






Questions and Answers from the audience continued the discussion. Here is a comment from Global Cleveland driving force Albert Ratner. He told how Cleveland of course wants the best and brightest but we need all kinds of people.

After lunch, people met in work groups and addressed topics such as:

  • Retaining International Students by Engaging Businesses
  • Talent Sourcing Strategies
  • Assisting Businesses with Retention and Connection
  • Creating Welcoming Neighborhoods
  • Fostering Boomerang Attraction
  • Creating a Welcoming Culture
  • Connecting Refugees to Economic Opportunity
  • Leveraging Relationships in Ethnic Communities and Other Affinity Groups to Bolster the Population

The group gathered back together at the end of the day with work session highlights. A report from the Summit will be presented in August 2011.


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