The City Club of Cleveland Podcast

Every summer since 2016, the City Club has packed up our gong and taken over some of our favorite outdoor public spaces. This year, we are taking over the Playhouse Square Plaza and marking our nation\'s semiquincentennial - or 250th birthday - with the theme WE THE PEOPLE. The series will dive into topics centering our communities, organizations, and the very people who help our democracy thrive.\r\n\r\nChef Peggy Cruz, Executive Chef at Cha\'firo Catering and Events\r\n\"Reach & Teach\": Our goal is to travel to urban and local gardens and \"Reach\" the community to \"Teach\" families, seniors, and children how to preserve the food they grow in their own spaces and gardens. We\'d like to bridge the gap between growing food and knowing how to use and preserve it throughout the winter months.\r\n\r\nChristina Hannon Luehring, Founder of Home Executive\r\nEveryone tells new parents to "enjoy every minute." No one gives them the tools to survive them first. It\'s time to bring executive-level thinking and coaching to the leadership teams running our most important organizations - our families.\r\n\r\nWim Laven, Ph.D, Elementary Teacher\r\nAccepting Disability: Disabilities can be visible or hidden, and regardless of politics or policies, we are part of the community.\r\n\r\nNaimah O\'Neal, HIV/AIDS Medical Social Worker at The Centers\r\nA 34-year HIV long-term survivor will talk about the current state of HIV laws in Ohio.\r\n\r\nStarr Solomon, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Criminology at Kent State University\r\nIn collaboration with Cleveland's Police Accountability Team, Kent State University is conducting a survey designed to better understand community perceptions of safety and trust in the Cleveland Division of Police. Learn how this data can inform training for Cleveland Division of Police focused on strengthening ties with the community.\r\n\r\nPiet van Lier, Deputy Director at Honesty for Ohio Education\r\nOutlining public education in Ohio, including current funding and private school vouchers.

Team NEO is not a chamber or a think tank. It is the JobsOhio network partner for Northeast Ohio with a mission to retain, expand and attract jobs, businesses, and opportunities in Northeast Ohio. At the helm as Chief Executive Officer is Matt Dolan, who is dedicated to driving economic growth and prosperity across Northeast Ohio. With a career spanning law, business, and government, Matt has a deep understanding of the region's opportunities and challenges.\r\n\r\nJoin us at the City Club as Matt Dolan provides an update on how Team NEO has evolved under his leadership and is taking responsibility to attract more businesses, jobs, and opportunities across the 14-county region.

The Great Lakes are home to 21% of the world\'s surface freshwater, and it's not just an environmental asset: it's an economic one. With a $6 trillion regional GDP, the region deeply depends on a flourishing water economy: the full range of economic activity that depends on, relates to, or is generated by water. With issues like emerging contaminants and water scarcity on the rise, there is both an urgent need and an economic opportunity to create solutions that can be deployed in the Great Lakes and adopted around the world.\r\n\r\nCleveland Water Alliance (CWA) forges cross-sector partnerships to accelerate these innovations, connecting our region's utilities, universities, government agencies, and manufacturing leaders. From attracting tech creators to building real-world testing environments on the shores of Lake Erie, CWA is doing what Silicon Valley did for computing: turning concentrated expertise and critical need into a world-changing industry.\r\n\r\nPresident & CEO Bryan Stubbs was appointed to lead CWA shortly after its inception, growing the organization into a renowned technology catalyst and establishing Ohio as a global destination for water innovation.\r\n\r\nJoin us at the 2026 State of the Great Lakes to learn why the most valuable resource of the 21st century is already in our backyard and what it means for the future of our region.

What is the future of the Republican and Democratic parties in our nation? The answer may surprise you.\r\n\r\nAhead of the 2026 midterm elections, in an age of ideological tension where politics seems more divided than ever, a new Manhattan Institute poll is cutting through the noise-showing us all where the political right and left parties are actually headed. The findings urge us to be wary of the narratives pushed by online algorithms and corporate media, and to uncover the actual values of average Americans. This polling, for both Democrats and Republicans, provides a compelling snapshot of the challenges facing each party, and, by extension, our democracy.\r\n\r\nBehind the research is Jesse Arm, the Vice President of External Affairs at the Manhattan Institute, where he oversees communications, government relations, and polling. Before the Manhattan Institute, Jesse worked as a pollster and project manager at Applecart, an NYC-based political consulting and data analytics firm, where he advised political campaigns, advocacy organizations, trade associations, and corporations.\r\n\r\nJoin us at the City Club as Karen Kasler, Statehouse News Bureau Chief at Ohio Public Radio and Television, sits down with Jesse Arm to discuss his latest research, and what it means for communities across the nation, the politics shaping our lives, and the future of our democracy.

The name \"Dr. Jonas Salk\" is synonymous with one of the greatest public health achievements of all time: The Polio Vaccine. The arrival of Salk\'s vaccine in 1955 was a beacon of hope and reinforced the role science can play to serve the public good. When asked who owned the patent for the vaccine, Salk famously replied, \"There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?\" In 1994, and just one year before Dr. Salk passed, polio was considered eliminated in North and South America. Today, vaccine hesitancy - driven by a host of reasons - has eroded childhood immunization rates in some parts of the country, and reignited a debate over vaccines as a stress test for public trust in science.\r\n\r\nContinuing the work of Dr. Jonas Salk is his son, Dr. Peter L. Salk. A graduate from Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, he would go on to work in his father's laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies from 1972 to 1984, and again from 1991 to 1995. Together, they would research the biology and immunotherapy of cancer and autoimmune diseases, and develop an inactivated vaccine for HIV infection. Nowadays, Dr. Salk spends his time educating the public regarding his father's life and work and exploring approaches to reducing the severity of various public health problems. Since 2009, Dr. Salk has served as president of the Jonas Salk Legacy Foundation in La Jolla, California. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Public Health, Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology.\r\n\r\nIn partnership with the Mt. Sinai Health Foundation, join us as Dr. Peter L. Salk sits down in conversation with Dr. Arthur Lavin, retired pediatrician and Co-Founder of Grandparents for Vaccines. Together, they will discuss the Salk legacy, the state of public trust in science, and the future of public health.

We are no doubt navigating an incredible age of disruption. Technology, algorithms, politics, and societal pressures have changed the way we both think and work. But how do we break free from a system that was created to manipulate independent thought? In his latest book, The Tyranny of False Choices: A Guide To Authentic Decision-Making, author Rey Ramsey provides a timely and practical guide for modern leaders to better manage through tumultuous times. Using methods to support critical thinking, moral compass navigation, and resilience, Rey provides a roadmap to reclaiming courage and personal agency required in leadership in these times.\r\n\r\nRey Ramsey is President and CEO of the Nathan Cummings Foundation and a social justice entrepreneur who brings more than three decades of C-suite experience in the non-profit, public, and private sectors. Previously, Rey has served as Oregon's Director of Housing and Community Services, President and COO of Enterprise Community Partners, and Chairman of Habitat for Humanity International-to name a few.\r\n\r\nJoin us at the City Club as Cleveland Foundation\'s Lillian Kuri sits down with Rey Ramsey for a candid conversation about leadership in these times, and what it takes to reclaim independent thought in a world designed to manipulate it.

When Tricia Griffith joined Progressive in 1988 as an entry-level claims representative, her job often required crawling under cars to assess damage. Decades later, she remains committed to doing whatever is required as she leads one of the largest and most successful property and casualty insurers in the country. In fact, she still plays an active role in onboarding new employees at every level of the organization.\r\n\r\nProgressive's growth has been fueled not only by its recognizable brand and memorable advertising-Flo, Dr. Rick, and an additional cast of characters-but by a deeply intentional approach to company culture for which it recently earned the #1 spot on The Forbes America's Best Employers for Company Culture list. The same values that shape Progressive's public presence guide how the company recruits, develops, and empowers its people. Since 2016, Progressive has doubled its market share of the U.S. auto insurance market, growing to more than 18 percent and generating over $81 billion in earned premium, a testament to a culture that treats its workforce as a strategic advantage rather than a cost center.\r\n\r\nBefore becoming CEO, Griffith held several key executive positions including leading human resources for the insurer, giving her a leadership perspective shaped as much by talent development and organizational design as by operations and strategy. In this year's Leadership for the Greater Good forum, she joins us to reflect on what it takes to lead at scale without losing sight of the individuals who make growth possible.

While the Red Cross is known primarily for blood drives and disaster relief, some of its most important work keeps people out of the hospital. The Home Fires Campaign has installed more than 3 million smoke alarms in homes across the country, saving thousands of lives. Emergency and disaster preparedness campaigns help communities ready themselves for weather related disasters. And CPR and First Aid training are critical to providing care at the moment people in crisis need it.\r\n\r\nMike Parks has been leading the Northern Ohio Region since 2015, after he retired as Rear Admiral from the U.S Coast Guard. In his role, Parks oversees five American Red Cross Chapters covering 31 Northern Ohio counties, serving 5.3 million people. In addition, he is frequently called on to lead disaster relief efforts, deploying for weeks to Maui to respond to the Lahaina fires, and to North Carolina after the flash floods from Hurricane Helene.\r\n\r\nJoin us for the next forum in the City Club\'s Local Heroes series, as we hear about the organization keeping blood in the blood banks, and our communities and neighbors safe from disaster.

Established more than 100 years ago to address stresses in the banking system, the Federal Reserve is the U.S. central bank. It comprises the Board of Governors, a federal agency located in Washington, D.C., and 12 Federal Reserve Banks around the nation.\r\n\r\nOne of these banks is the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, which serves the Fourth Federal Reserve District.\r\n\r\nThe Fourth District encompasses Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia. Its mission is to ensure banks are trustworthy and secure, to keep the financial system running, and to represent Fourth District priorities on the national stage.\r\n\r\nCleveland Fed President and CEO Beth Hammack has led the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland since 2024. This year, she is one of 12 voting members of the Federal Open Market Committee, which is responsible for setting monetary policy.\r\n\r\nHammack has more than 30 years of experience in finance, capital markets, and risk management. Before joining the Cleveland Fed, she was cohead of global financing at Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., where she was also a member of the management committee.\r\n\r\nAs president and CEO, Hammack oversees 1,100 employees in the Bank\'s Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh offices who conduct economic research, supervise banking institutions, and provide payments services to commercial banks and the U.S. government.

Entrepreneurship has surged in the wake of the pandemic, and it hasn\'t slowed. Leading the way are women who have turned to entrepreneurship for better opportunities, flexible work schedules, and wealth creation. According to a 2026 report by Wells Fargo, women-owned businesses grew 12% from 2022 to 2025, nearly double the growth rate for businesses owned by men. These women-led enterprises now employ 12.6 million people and generate $2.8 trillion in revenue.\r\n\r\nThe same report ranked Cleveland sixth among the nation\'s Top 10 Metropolitan Statistical Areas in 2025 for its ability to foster the long-term growth and success of women-owned businesses. What sets Cleveland apart from its peer cities in terms of growth and opportunity? And what partnerships and initiatives are finding success in ensuring every woman has access to the capital, training, networks, and mentorship they need to achieve their dreams?\r\n\r\nAisha Childers is a Cleveland-based entrepreneur and operator leading multiple organizations across early childhood education, food service, and community-based event spaces.\r\n\r\nNathalie A. Dibo is the Founder and Managing Partner of Dibo Law, LLC, where she leads a team of attorneys focused on business litigation, real estate and business law, and estate planning and probate.\r\n\r\nNitina Francis is the Director of the Women's Business Center of Central Ohio at ECDI, where she leads programs that support and grow women-owned businesses across the region.\r\n\r\nJoin us at the City Club as Huntington Bank\'s Roshonda Smith leads a candid conversation on the current challenges, opportunities, and landscape of women in entrepreneurship across Northeast Ohio.