CLEVELAND PLAY HOUSE WELCOME NEW MEMBERS TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Posted February 12, 2025 in Press Releases
(Cleveland, OH) Cleveland Play House (CPH) is pleased to share the latest additions to the CPH Board of Directors that serves the regional theatre’s mission to inspire, stimulate, and entertain diverse audiences across Northeast Ohio by producing plays and theatre education programs of the highest professional standards. The Cleveland Play House Board of Directors welcome Jonathon Bloomberg, Brian Grady, Andrea Kanter Grodin, Akil Hameed, Griselda Rondon, and Stephen Thome, who are pillars of the Greater Cleveland Community, and now valued members of the CPH Board of Directors.
Cleveland Play House Board Chair Michael J. Meehan states, “Our newest Board members bring wide-ranging experiences to our Board. We are thrilled that they have joined our iconic organization.”
Cleveland Play House, founded in 1915 and recipient of the 2015 Regional Theatre Tony Award, is America's first professional regional theatre. CPH has produced more than 100 world and/or American premieres, and over its long history more than 12 million people have attended over 1,600 productions. Today, Cleveland Play House celebrates the beginning of its second century of service while performing in three state-of-the art venues at Playhouse Square in downtown Cleveland. Cleveland Play House is made possible in part by state tax dollars allocated by the Ohio Legislature to the Ohio Arts Council (OAC). Cleveland Play House is supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture, and by our season sponsor, KeyBank.
“We are excited to welcome these outstanding individuals to the Cleveland Play House Board of Directors,” said Rachel Fink, Managing Director of Cleveland Play House. “Their deep connections to Cleveland and commitment to enriching our city’s vibrant cultural landscape will be invaluable as we continue to create transformative theatrical experiences. Their leadership will help ensure CPH remains a cornerstone of creativity and inspiration for Northeast Ohio.”
Cleveland Play House is halfway through its 109th season, looking forward to engaging productions of Fat Ham, King James, and Fiddler on the Roof.
For more information about Cleveland Play House, please visit clevelandplayhouse.com.
NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS BIOGRAPHIES
JONATHON BLOOMBERG is a member of Squire Patton Boggs’ Environmental, Safety & Health Practice. He has more than 30 years of experience serving as counsel to various companies in the refining and petrochemical industry. In addition, he has represented clients in the fuel transportation, ethanol and food processing, mining and waste incinerators spaces. He has experience working with clients in the manufacturing industry, including experience with milling, machining, extruding and coating facilities. Prior to joining the firm, Jon was assistant general counsel at a multistate energy and utility company providing advice, counsel and strategy on air regulation, federal and state air policy, coal ash management and other compliance matters across an eight-state area. Jon also has 10 years of teaching experience, having served as an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas Law School, where he taught administrative law and environmental law, and at William Mitchell College of Law, where he taught environmental regulations.
BRIAN GRADY is a partner at Jones Day, where he represents public and private companies in domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. In addition, Brian has significant experience managing corporate restructurings for domestic and global firms. Brian has counseled clients on numerous transactions, including STERIS's $3.6 billion acquisition of Cantel Medical, Avient Corporation's $1.5 billion acquisition of Clariant's masterbatch business, Conagra Brands' $10.9 billion acquisition of Pinnacle Foods, The Sherwin-Williams Company's $11.3 billion acquisition of The Valspar Corporation, and Cintas Corporation's $2.2 billion acquisition of G&K Services, Inc. Other companies with which he has worked on substantial matters include Materion, Real Alloy, TopBuild, Diebold Nixdorf, and Olympic Steel. Brian maintains an active pro bono practice, counseling Ohio nonprofit organizations regarding tax-exempt status and corporate governance issues, and previously served on the board of directors of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance.
ANDREA KANTER GRODIN served as the Executive Director of Operations at Cleveland Clinic from 2012 - September 2024. Reporting to the Chief of Operations, she had executive oversight for Buildings + Design, Clinical Engineering, International Operations, Marketing and Communications, Supply Chain & Patient Support Services, Philanthropy, Protective Services and Hotels. She led initiatives related to strategy, policy, system integration and change for the health system, as well as collaborated with other local anchor institutions to develop inclusive economic development strategies that leverage resources to benefit our local communities. She served on numerous cross-functional teams across the enterprise. She started her career at Cleveland Clinic in 2000 as the Administrator of the Beachwood Family Health Center. She later held several positions of increasing responsibility including executive leadership in the Medicine Institute, Regional Hospital Administration, and as Chief Operating Officer of South Pointe Hospital. Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic, Andi was the VP of Administration and Planning for Montefiore, a not-for-profit health-care organization for seniors, and before that, practiced municipal law for 10 years. She currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Trustees of Evergreen Cooperatives and as a board member of Jewish Community Housing. She is a Life Trustee and former Board Chair of Milestones Autism Resources. Andi graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University with a bachelor of arts in economics. She has a Juris Doctor degree from Boston University School of Law.
AKIL HAMEED, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of FASS Real Estate Services (FASS), has progressively grown the company which currently manages more than $30,000,000 in real estate, consisting of scattered site commercial and residential properties in Northeast Ohio and its surrounding suburbs. In 2021; FASS launched their development firm where today the team is working on projects ranging from $5-20,000,000 in build-cost. In 2023 FASS landed the Leasing and Management contract to oversee; The Historic Shaker Square; a 200,000 Urban Retail center in Cleveland, OH. At FASS, Hameed directs a team of over 20 Brokers to develop and implement marketing strategies that expand awareness and recognition of the company and its many products and services into the community. As an experienced Broker, Property Manager and Business professional, Hameed has an established record of success with Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives throughout many of his corporate dealings. Hameed began providing Receivership Services in 2015 as the only African American in Cuyahoga County operating in this space. Working with banking institutions and partners like; CBRE on Receivership Joint ventures, Hameed's experience is expansive. Today, FASS Real Estate Services has serviced over 500,000 sqft of assets under County Court Appointed Receivership orders. Hameed brings more than 15 years of experience in the real estate industry including acquisition and analysis, Real Estate Development, finance, leasing, management, marketing, receivership and operations; and has a proven ability to analyze business processes, visualize improvements, and orchestrate changes that impact growth and development.
GRISELDA RONDON is Executive Vice President and Chief Model Risk Officer at KeyCorp. She is a member of the bank's Executive Council and other senior leadership committees. She is also Risk Management DE&I Champion and served as the Hispanic Latinx Champion of KeyBank ERG from 2018 to 2022. Griselda was a member of the Board of Directors of Esperanza from 2018-2023 and chaired the Operations Committee as the Treasurer. Esperanza is a non-profit organization with a significant presence in Northeast Ohio focusing on empowering Hispanic/Latinx communities to flourish by equipping learners for educational attainment and lifelong success. Griselda has a strong quantitative skill set grounded in mathematics. She holds a Ph.D. in Algebra from Brandeis University, and M.S. degrees in Statistics and Abstract Mathematics. Prior to joining Key, she held teaching positions at Brandeis University, and the Simon Bolivar University in Caracas, Venezuela. Griselda is a seasoned leader with deep expertise in creating and expanding a culture of advanced business analytics with a sound scientific foundation. She is recognized by her peers as an industry leader in the evolution of model risk.
STEPHEN THOME is a principal within Grant Thornton's Health Care Advisory Practice. He serves as a health care leader within the firm and primarily serves large health systems, physician organizations and regional health plans. Stephen has more than 25 years of experience serving as an executive or consultant leading or advising health care. His advisory and executive experiences include: Preparing financial projections for strategic and operational initiatives involving capital investment, strategy and growth initiatives and other considerations Serving as Monitor for 10-year consent decrees between state attorneys general and a multi billion-dollar health system. Monitoring requirements include payer contracting, finance, operations and governance. Analyzing proposed transaction thesis in terms of growth, capacity, investment and potential cost savings. Conducting financial due diligence involving quality of earnings, service reconfiguration and financial planning scenarios, information technology, cyber risks, human resources, physician relationships and medical staff planning, compliance and quality. Leading post-transaction integration planning and implementation to support health system acquisitions of hospitals and physician groups, with a focus on integration plan development, integration management, clinical service reconfiguration scenarios and medical staff planning. Leading the start-up effort for Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, including proposing on a management agreement with in-country hospitals and establishing business operations in Abu Dhabi. Stephen graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor's in English and received his MBA (Finance) from Indiana University. Stephen is a member of the Healthcare Financial Management Association, where he sits on the HFMA Large System Controller Council. Stephen regularly speaks at health care events on health care trends and has been published in Healthcare Financial Management magazine, Becker's and other publications, and has been quoted on health care trends in Fortune and the Kaiser Health News. Stephen serves in an emeritus status on the Board of Directors for the Centers for Family and Children (Cleveland, OH). He previously served on the board and as Board President to its FQHC legacy organizations.
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
MICHAEL BARAKIVA (Artistic Director) is an Armenian-Israeli American director and writer who has staged new plays, revivals, and classics in New York City and around the country. Michael was appointed Artistic Director of Cleveland Play House in December 2023, where he served as director of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein as well as co-director of CPH’s world premiere production of Ken Ludwig’s Moriarty: A New Sherlock Holmes Adventure. Barakiva’s work has been seen at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Primary Stages, Syracuse Stage, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and the Hangar Theatre, where he served as Artistic Director. He founded The Upstart Creatures, a theatre company that creates community through performance and food, as well as the Leadership Initiative Project, which equips historically excluded artists with the tools to succeed in leadership positions. Barakiva has received three Drama League directing fellowships, the Phil Killian Directing Fellowship (OSF), the David Merrick Prize in Drama, and was a Granada Artist-in-Residence at UC Davis. He led a week-long workshop on musical theatre at the International Puppet Theater in Sofia, Bulgaria, and was a presenter at the International University Theatre Festival at UNAM in Mexico City. He served as producer of Summer Camp 6 (Soho Rep) and as the Readings and Workshops Coordinator at New York Stage and Film, as well as a Primary Coach on Season 2 of MTV’s Made. As a writer, Barakiva is the recipient of a Red Bull Commission for his adaptation of John Milton’s Paradise Lost, an EST/Sloan Project Commission, and a co-author of String Theory (Connotation Press). His young adult novels have been named to the Rainbow List, Equality Family Council Reading List, The Barnes and Noble’s Perfect Valentine’s Day YA Novels list, spending over a year as Goodreads #1 LGBTQ YA Novel. Education: Vassar College, The Juilliard School.
RACHEL L. FINK (Managing Director) is thrilled to be returning home to Northeast Ohio after 25 years. Her childhood was filled with fundamental and rich Cleveland arts experiences — and it was at Heights High (Go Tigers!) that Fink’s passion for arts access, social justice, and inclusive, equitable practices was ignited. She carried those values with her as she enrolled at Case Western Reserve University, where an astute professor introduced her to the field of arts administration, and she hasn’t turned back since. The experience at CWRU led to an internship at Cleveland Play House, followed by earning an MFA in theater management at the Yale School of Drama (now the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale). After graduate school, Fink ventured west to Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, California, where she founded and grew the Berkeley Rep School of Theatre into a nationally-recognized learning hub which centered theatre as an essential education and engagement tool for all ages, providing direct service and support to more than 300 theatres and 2,000 artists across the San Francisco Bay Area. Most recently, Fink served as the executive director of the Tony Award-winning Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois. Producing highlights include Plantation! by Kevin Douglas and directed by David Schwimmer; Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, written and directed by David Catlin; Her Honor Jane Byrne, written and directed by J. Nicole Brooks (holiday radio broadcast in partnership with local NPR affiliate, WBEZ); Steadfast Tin Soldier, written and directed by Mary Zimmerman; and Lookingglass Alice, written and directed by David Catlin. Fink has held professional distinctions including co-leading the Professional Association of Chicago Theatres; and serving as a Fellow at the Civic Leadership Academy at the University of Chicago/Harris School of Public Policy; as the US delegate for the British Council’s Cultural Leadership International Programme; as a member of the American Express/Aspen Institute Fellowship for Emerging Nonprofit Leaders inaugural class; and as a 2016 artEquity facilitator cohort member.
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