Wean appoints 2 board members

Grants reflect the Wean Foundation’s new emphasis on local neighborhood building.

STAFF REPORTS

WARREN — The Raymond John Wean Foundation has appointed two new board members and awarded community grants totaling $275,000.

The new board members are Suzanne Fleming of Youngstown, and Donald Emerson of Warren.

Fleming is a community volunteer who spent 10 years working as a research associate in the Center for Human Services Development at Youngstown State University and is a former head of Leadership Mahoning Valley. Early in her career, she worked as a surgical intensive care nurse at what is now known as Forum Health Northside Medical Center. Fleming holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Youngstown State University and a master’s degree in public administration from Kent State University.

She said she is excited to have been chosen to serve on the Wean Foundation board.

Fleming said the foundation is using some innovative approaches to community development, particularly by helping to re-establish and strengthen neighborhoods, which she said are the building blocks for communities.

Emerson, executive director of the Trumbull Metropolitan Housing Authority, was previously a research assistant at YSU’s Center for Urban Studies. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and history at Miami University (Ohio) and has a law degree from the University of Akron.

“I am looking forward to being formally associated with the Wean Foundation. They have proven to be a truly progressive and positive force for the Valley. I aim to continue to support their efforts in that vein,” he said.

Emerson, who said he is involved in some of the organizations that have received Wean grants, said it is “great that we have a local foundation that is now focusing on the Mahoning Valley.”

Emerson said “diversity is clearly one of the appealing reasons I’m looking to serving on the board,” and that he is “very cognizant of the foundation’s desire to be inclusive.”

“We are very excited about Suzanne and Don joining our board,” said Gordon B. Wean, chairman of the board and grandson of the foundation’s founder, Raymond John Wean. “They bring to the Wean board years of valuable community experience and judgment that will be critical in the Foundation’s efforts toward community improvement.”

Fleming and Emerson begin their duties on the Wean Foundation Board in January. They replace outgoing board members Jennie Dennison Budak and Mary Halfacre.

New grants awarded by the Wean board are:

U$100,000 to the Ohio Board of Regents to continue its development of a community college for the Mahoning Valley.

U$20,000 to the Alliance Community Outreach Program of Warren for youth programming.

U$15,000 to the Children’s Museum of the Valley for planning ways to serve local children.

U$35,000 to the D&E Counseling Center to develop a model for training preschool teachers how to better manage challenging behaviors in the classroom.

U$25,000 to the Millcreek Children’s Center for administrative support.

U$20,000 to Potential Development for strategic planning in serving the needs of autistic and developmentally delayed children.

U$50,000 to the Warren Joint Apprentice for a solar/wind power system in its training center.

U$12,875 to the Warren YWCA for diversity/cultural awareness and racial justice workshops.

alcorn@vindy.com