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Up and coming leaders to watch in Northeast Ohio

A view of the Downtown Cleveland skyline.
Henryk Sadura
/
Shutterstock
A view of the Downtown Cleveland skyline.

Over the last few years we have seen a wave of leadership change across Northeast Ohio. New leaders are putting their imprint on the region in politics, business, non-profits and other sectors of the economy.

Each year, Crain’s Cleveland Business names its class of 40 Under 40 honorees. The class each year spotlights some of the innovators and up and coming leaders in the region.

Previous honorees from Crain’s 40 Under 40 have included Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb—who was a nonprofit executive when he made the list in 2020. Crain’s Cleveland named Chris Ronayne, the new county executive-elect, to its 2003 class when Ronayne was serving on the city planning commission.

The 40 Under 40 list is generated by Crain’s publications in Cleveland, Detroit, New York and Chicago. Some other luminaries identified as “ones to watch” in other cities’ 40 Under 40 lists: Lin Manel Miranda made New York’s list in 2009, and Barack Obama made Chicago’s list in 1993.

We are going to spend the first part of the hour talking with a few of this year’s Crain’s Cleveland’s 40 Under 40 honorees.

Later, The Unsilenced Voices of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District is a group of high school students who want to make their voices heard in a society that doesn't prioritize listening to young people -- that's according to their website.

The goal of the group is to provide an outlet for students to talk about the issues they care about, while teaching students about journalism and blogging. They also create videos and podcast interviews about what's going on at the school.

The group was started in collaboration with CMSD by Ideastream Public Media's education reporter, Conor Morris, in his prior role as a Report for America Corps member.

One Unsilenced Voice student, Chardon Black, who attends the Cleveland School of Science and Medicine, recently interviewed the CEO of CMSD, Eric Gordon, about what diversity means to the district -- both in terms of students and staff. You can find the full interview here.

Guests:
- Vanja Djuric, Associate Professor of Practice; Director of Analytics, College of Business, University of Akron

- Shaleeta Smith, Director of Family Health, Summit County Public Health

- Stuart Miller, Chief Investment Officer, Geauga Financial Advisors

- Mariely Luengo, President and CEO, Pueblo Strategies
Chardon Black, Student, Unsilenced Voices

- Eric Gordon, CEO, Cleveland Metropolitan School District

Leigh Barr is a coordinating producer for the "Sound of Ideas" and the "Sound of Ideas Reporters Roundtable."