About Us: Board Members

Board Officers

Joseph M. Cicero
Mayor of Lyndhurst, Ohio
Chair

Lois K. Goodman
Work and Family Consulting Group
Co-Chair

Mitchell Balk
President of the Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation
Treasurer

Susan Schwarzwald
Director of Planning & Programming for the Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging
Secretary

Board of Directors

Susan E. Axelrod : : Mitchell Balk : : Joseph M. Cicero : : Maureen Crider-Wallace : : Jane E. Fumich : : Lois K. Goodman : : Mareyjoyce Green : : Edward J. Kelley : : Thomas Longo : : Howard R. Maier : : Thomas O'Grady : : Julie Rittenhouse : : Joseph Santiago : : Susan Schwarzwald : : Walter J. Stinson : : Sister Joseph Marie Zenda

Susan E. Axelrod
Appointing Authority: Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners
Ms. Axelrod is the Director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Senior and Adult Services (DSAS). Ms. Axelrod oversees a budget of more than $25 million and provides overall coordination and oversight of DSAS. DSAS, in partnership with the community, provides a continuum of services to improve the quality of life for the senior and disabled adult population of Cuyahoga County, focusing on vulnerable elderly and at-risk adults. Prior to joining the County, Ms. Axelrod worked for the City of Cleveland in a number of capacities. She served as the Commissioner of Public Health and Executive Assistant to the Mayor for Health and Human Services. Ms. Axelrod has received a Bachelor degree and a Master degree in Education from Cleveland State University.

Mitchell Balk
Appointing Authority: The Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation
Mr. Balk is the founding President of The Mt. Sinai Health Care Foundation, a grantmaking organization resulting from the 1996 sale of the Mt. Sinai Medical Center and related Cleveland hospitals. As of December 2004, the Foundation has distributed more than $40 million in its initial seven years of grantmaking. In 2003, Mr. Balk was elected founding board chair of the Health Policy Institute of Ohio. This Columbus-based Institute is a source of nonpartisan information for making health policy decisions. Mr. Balk holds a Bachelor degree in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Minnesota and a Master Degree from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration.

Honorable Joseph M. Cicero
Appointing Authority: Cuyahoga County Mayors and Managers Association
Mayor Cicero, serving his first term as Mayor, has been a life-long resident of the City of Lyndhurst. Prior to being elected mayor, he was on the City Council for fourteen years. Mayor Cicero is the president of the Council of Governments for the Tri-City Consortium on Aging and is active with the Cleveland Foodbank and is a strong supporter of the educational process in public and private schools. Mayor Cicero is a graduate of Charles F. Brush High School and has attended Lakeland Community College and Ursuline College.

Maureen Crider-Wallace
Appointing Authority: Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners
Maureen Crider-Wallace currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Senior and Adult Services.  Ms. Crider-Wallace oversees a budget of approximately $12.5 million and a staff of 170 in the program areas of Home Care Skilled and Support Services, PASSPORT Provider Services, Ryan White Title I HIV/AIDS Home Support, and the Cuyahoga Options for Elders Program.  Prior to joining the DSAS staff in October 2003, Ms. Crider-Wallace was the Rehabilitation Director at Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland, and was a Family Services Counselor and Case Manager at the Hitchcock Center for Women.  Ms. Crider-Wallace has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a Master of Management degree, both from Ursuline College and is currently pursuing a Ph.D.  Ms. Crider-Wallace is a Certified Global Career Development Facilitator Instructor (CDFI), and is a member of several Community and Educational Advisory Councils, and holds membership in many social organizations. 

Jane E. Fumich
Appointing Authority: Mayor, City of Cleveland
Ms. Fumich is the Director of Cleveland's Department on Aging. She was appointed to this position by Mayor Jane Campbell in 2002 after having served as the Director of the Cuyahoga County Department of Senior and Adult Services since 1999. The Cleveland Department of Aging mission is to enhance the quality of life for Cleveland's senior through advocacy, planning, service coordination and the delivery of needed services. Ms. Fumich oversees a budget of approximately $1 million and a staff of twenty. Ms. Fumich has a Bachelor of Science degree in Health, Physical Education and Recreation from Kent State University and a Master Degree in Gerontological Studies from Miami University's Scripps Gerontology Center.

Lois K. Goodman
Appointing Authority: United Way Services of Greater Cleveland
Ms. Goodman is the President of the Work and Family Consulting Group, Incorporated, a consulting service that helps employers manage the changing needs of a diverse work force. The Work and Family Group reviews personnel policies and benefits, does surveys and feasibility studies and provides management training. Prior to starting her consulting firm, Ms. Goodman was Director of Employee Development for Ameritrust Company. Ms. Goodman has a Bachelor degree from the University of Michigan in Liberal Arts and a Master of Art degree from Case Western Reserve University in Guidance and Counseling.

Dr. Mareyjoyce Green
Appointing Authority: Mayor, City of Cleveland
Professor Green is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Women's Comprehensive Program at Cleveland State University. Professor Green is also Project Director of Push to Achievement, a pre-Welfare Reform program designed to enable qualified students receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) to earn a baccalaureate degree. Professor Green is a graduate of Wiley College, a historical black college, in Marshall, Texas and attended graduate school at the University of Wyoming and Case Western Reserve University.

Honorable Edward J. Kelley
Appointing Authority: Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority
Edward Kelley is a Trustee of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) appointed by the Cuyahoga County Mayors and City Managers Association in 2000. Mayor Kelley has served as Mayor and Council President in Cleveland Heights, part-time positions, since 1998. Mayor Kelley is the personnel director for the Domestic Relations Division of the County Court of Common Pleas. He supervises 120 people and oversees a budget of approximately $6 million. Mayor Kelley has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration from John Carroll University and a Master degree of Nonprofit Organizations (MNO) from the Weatherhead School of Management and the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.

Honorable Thomas J. Longo
Appointing Authority: Cuyahoga County Mayors and Managers Association
Thomas J. Longo is Mayor of the City of Garfield Heights, Ohio.  He has been Mayor for 25 years and was re-elected six times since 1983, giving him the distinction of being the Mayor with the longest term in office in the community’s history.  He had a 19-year career at Ohio Bell Telephone Co.  Mayor Longo is a graduate of John Adams High School and Cleveland State University (Business Administration).  He served as President of the Cuyahoga County Mayors and City Managers Association, is Vice Chair of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District and a founding member of the First Suburbs Consortium. He was recently recognized by the Garfield Heights Chamber of Commerce as the “Distinguished Citizen of the Year” for his untiring efforts on behalf of the community and region.

Howard R. Maier
Appointing Authority: Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency
Mr. Maier has been the Executive Director of the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) since 1989. NOACA is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for five counties (Cuyahoga, Geagua, Lake, Lorain and Medina) which does transportation planning, transportation-related air quality planning, and area wide water quality management planning, as defined by federal and Ohio mandates. Mr. Maier is directed by a thirty-eight-member Governing Board of local and appointed officials. NOACA has forty full-time employees and a budget of approximately $6 million. Mr. Maier has a Bachelor Degree in Economics from Ohio State University, a Master of City Planning from Ohio State University and a Master of Science in Public Management from Case Western Reserve University.

Honorable Thomas O’Grady
Appointing Authority: Cuyahoga County Mayors and Managers Association
Mayor O’Grady has served as Mayor of the City of North Olmsted since 2005. Prior to his being elected to this office, he served as a Council member for 10 years including President of Council from 2002-2005. Mayor O’Grady is a former teacher of History and Government in the local school district. He is retired from active duty in the United States Army in 1993 having served his country in Europe, Asia and the United States. He is the recipient of numerous military awards and distinctions. Mayor O’Grady is active in many community and public service organizations including the North Olmsted Kiwanis and the Northeast Ohio Mayors and Managers Association.

Julie Rittenhouse
Appointing Authority: Cleveland City Council
Julie Rittenhouse is a Program Officer with the GAR Foundation.  She has an in-depth knowledge of the nonprofit sector and nine years of philanthropic experience with strategic initiatives, program management and evaluation.  Ms. Rittenhouse is an active volunteer with human services and educational organizations serving Greater Cleveland.  She holds a bachelor of arts degree in government and international studies from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s of science in social administration from Case Western Reserve University. 

Honorable Joseph Santiago
Appointing Authority: Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners
Joseph Santiago comes to the Board as a Cleveland Councilman in Ward 14. Previously, Mr. Santiago worked as a Food Service Director in senior citizen housing utilizing his degree from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. He earned his Bachelors in Business Management degree from the University of Phoenix. Mr. Santiago has been involved in numerous community organizations including Tremont West Development Corporation, and Network Cleveland. Prior to his joining the public sector, Mr. Santiago proudly served in the US Navy for 9 years.

Susan Schwarzwald
Appointing Authority: Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging
Ms. Schwarzwald is the Director of Program Development and Planning for the Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging (WRAAA) and is responsible for strategic planning, implementation and allocation of funding for the Older Americans Act and State of Ohio Senior Community Service programs. In addition, she manages the funds dedicated to health promotion initiatives, Alzheimer Respite and directs the WRAAA's housing program for the five-County region. Ms. Schwarzwald is a founding member of the Senior Transportation Working Group, a planning collaborative working to establish a model of coordinated transportation for older persons in Cuyahoga County. Ms. Schwarzwald has a Bachelor degree from Oberlin College and a Master degree from the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.

Walter J. Stinson
Appointing Authority: Cuyahoga County Mayors and Managers Association
Mr. Stinson is the Community Coordinator for the City of University Heights. Mr. Stinson promotes fair housing opportunities, monitors real estate sales, plans senior citizen's programs, provides informational material about the City, staffs the City's Cable TV Advisory Commission, Communications and Development Commission and the Mayor's Commission to Eliminate Hate and prepares grant applications. Mr. Stinson has a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Maryknoll College and a Master in Religious Education in Theology from Maryknoll Seminary.

Sister Joseph Marie Zenda
Appointing Authority: Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners
Sister Joseph Marie has been the Vice-President of Franciscan Communities in Parma, Ohio since 2000. Sister Joseph Marie is responsible for facility development opportunities in Northeast Ohio, including land acquisition, zoning, marketing strategies, development plans. Sister Joseph Marie is currently overseeing the construction of a replacement facility for Mount Alverna Home in Parma and the development and construction of a Continuing Care Retirement Community in Avon, Ohio. Sister Joseph Marie has a Bachelor of Education from St. John's College, a Master Degree in School Administration from John Carroll University and has done postgraduate studies at DePaul University, Loyola University, Notre Dame University and Creighton University. Sister Joseph Marie is celebrating her 50th year in the Franciscan Community.