HLF Welcomes Rachel Williams

The Healthy Lakewood Foundation (HLF) is excited to announce the appointment of Rachel Williams to its Board of Directors. Rachel, a Lakewood resident, was nominated at the HLF Board’s July meeting and brings an array of valuable skills and experience to the Foundation. Currently, Rachel serves as a Community Development Corporation (CDC) Relationship Manager with Cleveland Neighborhood Progress (CNP) where she oversees a portfolio of five Cleveland CDCs to broker access to CNP services and support the success of their action plans.

Prior to her role at CNP, Rachel held a series of program management positions within the Cleveland Public School District, supporting students and their families by identifying and connecting them to resources and opportunities to enhance their education and development.  Rachel also worked for the Cuyahoga County Board of Health as a health educator and assisted in the management of a $7.5 million HUD grant for lead remediation and education to at-risk families and their children.

Rachel holds an M.A. in Non-Profit Administration from John Carrol University and a B.S. in Health Sciences from The Ohio State University. Rachel is a 2023 graduate of the Mandel Foundation’s CDC Leadership Program and served as a member of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s Equity and Inclusion Committee from 2017-2022. Rachel also serves as the Executive Director of VillageUP, a nonprofit that she founded in 2016 to connect families and children living in poverty to community resources.

HLF’s Board Secretary and Chair of the Governance Committee, Melissa Federman, notes, “Rachel is a dynamic leader with experience in community development, school administration, and public health. Her ongoing commitment to advancing health equity is needed and her expertise is timely as HLF Board initiates an equity assessment of our own organization.”