Ronald “Ronn” Richard is the President and CEO of the Cleveland Foundation where he sees his job as “helping a great region become even greater.”
Early in his career, Richard was a U.S. diplomat in Osaka/Kobe, Japan and at the U.S. State Department. Richard pinpoints his diplomacy work as a position that prepared him well for his current position at the foundation. Richard believes diplomacy is key to the collaborative approach that the region needs to solve its problems. Personally, Richard demonstrates this collaborative approach and applies himself beyond his responsibilities with the Cleveland Foundation. Richard chairs the Ohio Grantmakers Forum’s task force on educational reform and is on numerous boards including the Council on Foundations, Living Cities, Cleveland Center for Arts and Technology, Cleveland School of Science and Medicine, and Global Cleveland.
Mr. Richard holds a master’s degree in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, a bachelor’s degree in history from Washington University in St. Louis, and honorary doctorates from Notre Dame College and Baldwin-Wallace College.