Several individuals who are the driving forces behind Positively Kids! help assure that the well-being of children remains among the most important of our community's priorities.
Co-Founders
Ilana Horowitz Ratner assembled the working group for the television specials. Ilana provides executive consulting to non-profit leadership. A children's rights activist as well as an attorney for more than 30 years, she is a board member of both KidsOhio.org and Voices for Ohio's Children.Mary Beth Cooper is a management and organization development consultant serving executives in the public and not-for-profit sectors. She specializes in executive coaching, leadership development and strategic planning initiatives designed to optimize individual, team and organizational performance. Mary Beth serves on the boards of the Institute for Educational Renewal, Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital and Voices for Ohio's Children.
Amy Nicholls Swanson is day-to-day manager, chief advocate, and voice to the community for Voices for Ohio's Children. Amy works with Voices partners to organize and prepare testimony, legislative briefings and updates for legislators and aides at the local, state and federal levels. She also serves as leadership on local and statewide committees dedicated to children's well-being. Prior to joining Voices, she developed her advocacy and organizational skills during her tenure as Vice President for Burges & Burges: Strategists, where she worked on candidate and issue campaigns, public sector marketing programs, research projects, community networking and grassroots organizing.
Project Manager
Meredith Camp coordinates the year-round activities of Positively Kids! A board member of Center for Families and Children and of the Jewish Big Brothers and Big Sisters Association, Meredith is a consultant specializing in event management, marketing and production. She has coordinated major events for many leading organizations.
Our Partners
As we share success stories of effective programs that are helping Northeast Ohio's kids, we are grateful for many partner organizations and individuals. Their support makes it possible for us to achieve our mission.
Founding Sponsors
Forest City Enterprises, Inc. provides major funding and project support for our television specials. A $9.5 billion publicly traded real estate company based in Cleveland, Forest City is principally engaged in the ownership, development, acquisition and management of commercial and residential real estate throughout the United States. http://www.forestcity.net/
WKYC-TV 3, under the leadership of President and General Manager Brooke Spectorsky, donates air time, management, promotional support and on-air talent for our television specials. Romona Robinson, a WKYC news anchor, hosts the programs, with field reporting by education reporter Kim Wheeler, Dick Russ and Tom Beres. Emmy Award-winning Dennis Goulden is executive producer of the series. http://www.wkyc.com/
Dix & Eaton contributes professional services to support Positively Kids! Founded in 1952, Cleveland-based Dix & Eaton is the largest employee-owned public relations and investor relations firm in the United States. http://www.dix-eaton.com/
Founding Working Partners
Voices for Ohio's Children Executive Director, Amy Swanson, helps develop the program concept and content for each special. Voices also manages the PK! website and performs administrative support to PK! Voices for Ohio's Children is a non-partisan voice of Ohio's nearly 3 million children. With more than 100 collaborative partners, we advance changes in public policy that improve the health, safety, education, family stability and childcare of all Ohio children and their families. www.vfc-oh.org
KidsOhio.org provided inspiration for the original PK! program and provides on-going expertise on a range of children's issues. KidsOhio.org is an Ohio-led, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to improve the lives and education of Ohio's nearly 3 million children, especially disadvantaged youngsters. Based in Columbus, KidsOhio.org advocates on a range of children's issues, including health, early childhood education and improving public education for Ohio's children. Attorney Mark Real, President and CEO of KidsOhio.org, leads the day-to-day operations of KidsOhio.org. Mark has worked with PK! since 2004 on providing technical expertise on content. Mr. Real currently chairs Mayor Michael Coleman's Education Advisory Committee, headed Governor George Voinovich's Head Start Task Force and was a member of Governor Bob Taft's Commission on Student Success. Abigail Wexner, Board Chair, helped develop the original idea for a community special event like PK!. She has been a driving force for children over the past decade and is the founder and chair of the Coalition Against Family Violence and the Advocacy Center for Children and Families at Children's Hospital, both in Columbus. http://kidsohio.org/
Special Thanks
Center for Families and Children (CFC) provided early guidance and support for the formation of the Positively Kids! collaboration. CFC is a Cleveland-based non-profit dedicated to strengthening the community one person and one family at a time by providing exceptional human services to foster hope, dignity and purpose in the lives of the individuals and families they serve. http://www.c4fc.org/The Invest in Children Partnership provides expertise to Positively Kids! in the area of early childhood. Invest in Children, administered by the Board of County Commissioners, is a community-wide, public/private partnership of individuals, organizations and agencies, including government agencies, community-based service providers, medical institutions, and philanthropic and private organizations, all working together to help increase the development, funding, visibility and impact of early childhood services in Cuyahoga County. http://investinchildren.cuyahogacounty.us/
The Cleveland Metropolitan School District is Ohio's largest school district and has been featured in many Positively Kids! specials. The goal of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District is to become a premier school district in the United States of America. http://www.cmsdnet.net
The Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP) is a membership association of companies in Northeast Ohio and has provided content background for Positively Kids! projects. GCP is the largest private-sector economic development organization in Ohio and one of the largest metropolitan chambers of commerce in the nation. http://www.gcpartnership.com/