Program Directory

 
City Club of Cleveland - Johnathan Holifield
 
 
 
A thought-leader on regional community and economic development, civil rights, and government reform, Johnathan Holifield heads the Urban League of Greater Cleveland, an organization committed to making life better and more productive for minorities.

Prior to joining the Urban League in September 2007, Holifield was president and CEO of the Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy where he led management and restoration of an urban parks system to improve quality of life and strengthen green-based community revitalization. He also served as executive vice president of Council for World-Class Communities in Benton Harbor, Michigan, was founding executive director of CincyTechUSA, and was vice president of the Cincinnati USA Chamber of Commerce. He also assembled the Cincinnati region's first Leadership Council comprised of Fortune 500 CEOs, government and university officials, and technology advocates.

Holifield was a civil litigation attorney with the Manley, Burke & Lipton firm in Cincinnati and an assistant civil prosecutor with the Hamilton County, Ohio Prosecuting Attorney's Office. He also was a member of the National Football League's Cincinnati Bengals.

Holifield received Ohio gubernatorial appointments to the Midwest Governors' Association Investments for the Knowledge-based Economy project, serving as co-chairman of the Increasing Research Capacity and Accelerating Commercialization team, and to the Ohio House and Senate Joint Legislative Commission on High-Tech Business.
June 27, 2008