Our Team

Carolyn Cleveland provides support to the program directors for Creative Culture and Arts and Vibrant Neighborhoods and Inclusive Economy. Before joining the Foundation in 2023, Carolyn was the manager of operations with the Fund for Our Economic Future. Carolyn has an associate degree from Cuyahoga Community College and holds multiple certifications in human resource management and project management. She serves on the advisory council of the International Women’s Conference and is the founding board president of the Northern Ohio Recovery Association, a position she held for 17 years.

Jennifer Coleman is the Foundation’s program director for Creative Culture and Arts. Prior to joining the Foundation, Coleman, an architect, was president of her own design firm, Jennifer Coleman Creative. Earlier in her career, she practiced architecture at several local architecture firms. She also founded CityProwl.com, a company that produced audio walking tours of Cleveland that highlight the distinctive history and architecture of Cleveland.

Among her many civic endeavors, Jennifer has served as chair of the Cleveland Landmarks Commission, the Downtown/Flats Design Review Committee and the Group Plan Commission. She also has been a member of the board of trustees of many local arts and cultural organizations. Coleman received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University.

Marcia Egbert is the Foundation’s program director for Thriving Families and Social Justice. Prior to joining the Foundation in 1998, she was vice president of the National Urban Policy Institute, a public interest policy analysis and lobbying organization in Columbus, Ohio. She also served as government relations director for the Cuyahoga County Commissioners and worked for the Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives.

Marcia is active in a number of local, state and national philanthropic organizations including the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative, Economic Opportunity Funders, and the Health Taskforce of Philanthropy Ohio. She currently serves in leadership roles with the Ohio Transformation Fund, PRE4CLE (Cleveland’s plan for high-quality pre-K), First Year Cleveland (infant mortality reduction coalition), Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition, and the Governor’s Lead Advisory Committee; she is a trustee of the McGregor Foundation. Egbert is a two-time alumna of The Ohio State University, having received both B.A. and J.D. degrees from that institution.

Cindy Gasparro manages the grantmaking database, oversees the grantmaking process through the intake, review, award and follow-up stages of grants, and implements and manages organization-wide initiatives and programs. Cindy is also chief of staff, provides support to the president, and is responsible for the daily administrative development and implementation of human resources programs.

Treye Johnson is the Foundation’s program director for Vibrant Neighborhoods and Inclusive Economy. Prior to joining the Foundation, Treye worked at the Reserve Bank of Cleveland as program manager for the Federal Program on Economic Inclusion, and regional outreach manager in the community development department. He also previously worked in philanthropy with the Burton D. Morgan and George Gund Foundations.

Treye’s current civic engagements include the St. Dominic Racial Equity Task Force and the Hillcrest Hospital NICU parent support group. Organizations he has previously served with include the Center for Community Solutions, the Fund for Our Economic Future, the Welsh Academy, and the Trust for Public Land. Treye received a M.S. in sport administration from the University of Louisville, and an B.A. in communications from John Carroll University.

Paula Kampf assists the program directors for Climate and Environmental Justice and Thriving Families and Social Justice. She serves on the board of directors of Greater Cleveland Community Shares and as Cleveland program coordinator for the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Before joining the Foundation in 2016, she was Meaningful Matters Incorporated’s director of organizational development and social-emotional leadership, and has also served as manager of volunteer, spiritual care and bereavement services for a Cleveland hospice.

Paula has a B.A. in communications and Theatre from Notre Dame College, a M.A. in ministry from Ursuline College, and holds a certificate in applied positive psychology.

John Mitterholzer is the Foundation’s program director for Climate and Environmental Justice. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2008, he was a program officer at The Cleveland Foundation. John is the former chair of the Funders Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities, the current co-chair of the Climate and Energy Funders Group and an active member of the Environmental Grantmakers Association.

He holds a B.A. in history from Baldwin Wallace University and an M.A. in history from the University of Memphis.

Ann Mullin, executive vice president, leads the Foundation’s finances, operations, program-related investments, communications, and the Foundation’s growing role as an activist shareholder. She also directs the Foundation’s public education portfolio.

Ann has been with the Foundation since 2005. As program director for public education, she has led the Foundation’s investments in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s high schools portfolio, the Higher Education Compact, the Cleveland Plan, PRE4CLE, the Cleveland Transformation Alliance, and Say Yes to Education Cleveland.

Ann has a Master of Legal Studies from Cleveland Marshall College of Law, an MBA from Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, and a Bachelor of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2005, she served as program officer for education and program associate for arts and culture at the Cleveland Foundation, and operations director at Montessori Development Partnerships. She has also worked for National City Bank, IMG, and has experience teaching music and arts. Ann is a trained vocalist and lives in Cleveland with her family.

Alecia Pretel joined the Foundation in October 2012 and provides support to the executive vice president. Along with administrative responsibilities she manages the oversight of office operations and security systems, and researches and implements technology strategies for the Foundation. Alecia also is responsible for accounts receivable and working with accountants in many capacities.

Previously Alecia was a senior administrative assistant at Eaton Corporation in its HR Administrative Center of Excellence (ACOE). Prior to this, she also worked for Hilton Hotels as an assistant general manager in Richmond, Virginia and Solon, Ohio.

Tony Richardson became president of The George Gund Foundation in 2022. Prior to joining the Foundation, he served as executive director of The Nord Family Foundation in Amherst, OH.  Before working in organized philanthropy, Tony held positions in the private sector, K-12 education, higher education, and government.

In 2011, he was elected as a councilmember-at-large in the City of Lorain, becoming one of the youngest people elected to a citywide seat. During his second term, Tony served as chair of the police, fire, and legislative standing committee, and sponsored legislation to increase hiring goal percentages for racial minorities and women on city projects. In 2012, he served as the civic and political chair for the Lorain City Schools Levy Committee, which helped the school district pass its first new levy for operating dollars since 1992. Later that year, Tony was invited by the Obama Administration to attend a “Working Meeting on Fiscal Cliff” at the White House.

In 2017, Tony was appointed by Ohio’s Superintendent of Public Instruction to serve as chair of the Lorain Academic Distress Commission, a joint local and state committee established to turnaround the Lorain City School District. He is a recipient of Philanthropy Ohio’s 2017 Emerging Philanthropist Award, and his work has been featured in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and The Center for Effective Philanthropy.

Tony serves as a board member for Funders Together to End Homelessness, National Center for Family Philanthropy, Philanthropy Ohio, The Center for Effective Philanthropy, and The Corella & Bertram F. Bonner Foundation.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College and a juris doctorate from The Ohio State University’s Michael E. Moritz College of Law.

Kayli Salzano is the 2023–2025 George Gund Foundation fellow working across program areas. Kayli previously worked as the gallery manager at Waterloo Arts. They have also worked at Reinberger Gallery where they organized public programs and assisted the director in gallery operations. In addition to maintaining a visual arts practice, Kayli has worked at several local exhibition spaces as an art handler. They received their Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Cleveland Institute of Art.

Kayli’s professional experience has included residency with the Arts Leadership Residency, hosted by Assembly for the Arts and Cleveland Leadership Center; co-organizing an online creative community called Create Parade; and serving as gallery intern at Praxis Fiber Workshop, among many others.

Donovan Young is the program officer for the Thriving Families and Social Justice and Public
Education program areas. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2024, he was program associate for
social impact and strategy at The Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation

Donovan previously held internships at Case Western Reserve University’s office of corporate
relations, Neighborhood Connections, and served as a research assistant for the National
Initiative on Mixed-Income Communities.

Donovan graduated from Case Western Reserve University magna cum laude with a Master of
Science in Social Administration and a Master of Nonprofit Organizations. He also holds a
Bachelor of Arts in sociology and humanities from Azusa Pacific University in California, where
he also graduated magna cum laude.