We are sending huge thank yous to MedWish International, Kids Book Bank, Ronald McDonald House, and Cleveland Metroparks for speaking to the second Welcome to Cleveland cohort about volunteer opportunities at your respective organizations. The nonprofit panel event was fantastic. After eating a delicious dinner at Saucy Brew Works, the cohort loved hearing from the panelists about giving back to the community.

If members wish to get more involved in the Greater Cleveland community through the club, they can contact Bridget Coorigan, Director of Philanthropy at philanthropy@cleveland2030.org

Continue Reading for more Information About These Amazing Nonprofits in Cleveland! 

MedWish International was represented by Andrea DeSapri. MedWish International is a not-for-profit organization that saves lives and the environment by repurposing discarded medical supplies and equipment to provide humanitarian aid to people in need. In 2021, they served 26 countries, diverting 625,146 pounds of medical surplus from landfills! They have several volunteer shifts available for sorting of their donated supplies! Sign up to help out here: Volunteer Info | MedWish

Kids’ Book Bank was represented by Jazz Wilson and Bethany Hruschak. Kids’ Book Bank distributes tens of thousands of books every month to children throughout Greater Cleveland. Statistics show that children growing up in homes without books are on average three years behind children in homes with lots of books and 2 out of 3 low-income kids don’t own a single children’s book. From sorting and packing, to running a book drive, to passing out books directly to kids, there are meaningful opportunities for individuals and groups of all ages to make an impact. They also have a Young Professionals Board. Sign up to help out here: Volunteer | Kids' Book Bank Cleveland (kidsbookbank.org)

Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Northeast Ohio was represented by Hannah Driscoll. Their mission is to enhance the healthcare experience for families and children through comfort, care and supportive services. Each year, thousands of families whose children are receiving medical care throughout Northeast Ohio are served by their programs. In 2021, more than 22,000 families were served. There are individual and group volunteer opportunities available at the House. They also collect aluminum pull tabs from any container (soda pop, soup, pet food, etc.) to recycle for money and have an emerging leaders program. Sign up to help out here: Get Involved - Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northeast Ohio (rmhcneo.org)

Cleveland Metroparks was represented by Lynne Lisner. There are 18 reservations in the park system! Volunteer Services’ mission is to promote community involvement through rewarding volunteer opportunities that support the needs and mission of Cleveland Metroparks. They offer more than 100 ongoing volunteer opportunities as well as single service projects such as tree planting, trail work, and beach clean ups. Volunteers will have a direct impact on the conservation, education and recreation efforts of the parks. Sign up to help out here: Volunteer | Cleveland Metroparks

Dear Melinda,

Today we want to celebrate and acknowledge the passion, drive and inspirational leadership you have shown this organization through the past few years. When we think about how to describe you as a leader, go-getter is the first thing that comes to mind. You capture the spirit of what this organization stands for through your energetic vision of what more we can do to better Cleveland for young professionals.

During your tenure, the organization sold 4,200+ tickets through 100+ events, resulting in record-breaking revenues. Our monthly Around Towns have seen immense growth with unprecedented attendance since we started these networking events in 2014.

This year we hosted 15 CEO dinners, supported 35 small businesses, brought back our Ladies Who Lead panel discussions, volunteered with many non-profits, and fostered new relationships with additional networking groups. In addition, a “Summer of Fun” series offering our members the opportunity to participate in exclusive events (sailing, horseback riding, boating) and a Welcome to Cleveland group generated even more members. These efforts helped us grow our memberships by 200 paid professionals and 950 general individuals.

We are so excited to have learned from you so that we can continue to build on your success over the next years. All of our gratitude for your thoughtful leadership, and many well wishes on your future endeavors!

With respect,

Your Board

On behalf of the Cleveland Professional Twenty Thirty Club Board, I would like to personally recognize Dan Basco for his outstanding contributions to our club during his tenure as Social Director.

In this role, Dan was responsible for coordinating a robust calendar of social events while the pandemic constantly shifted everyone’s normal. With his creative leadership and support from five committee members, Dan organized and oversaw the execution of 57 events including the Club’s signature monthly Around Towns, Global Dinners, hikes, sports leagues, virtual tastings and so much more. Collectively, these events sold more than 2,500 tickets. 

Of these accomplishments, we are so grateful for the passion he brought back to our hikes, sporting events and Global Gourmet dinners. With his vision, Dan reimagined what our sporting leagues could do and more than doubled our members’ participation in various leagues – which simply put, is no easy feat.

Dan oversaw 16 hikes during his tenure, featuring many of the various MetroParks our community has to offer. These monthly hikes attracted 10-30 attendees each month and highlighted trails and parks such as Brandywine Falls, West Creek Reservation, Euclid Creek Reservation, Garfield Park and more. 

Each month, our Club visits a different restaurant around the city to learn about the cuisines and cultures of the world through Cleveland’s vibrant food scene. Our Global Gourmet dinners offer an opportunity to network in a small setting with like-minded gourmands. Dan and India Johnson, social committee member, coordinated delicious dinners at restaurants such as Seoul Garden, Superior Pho, Cozumel, Choukouya Resto-Bar, Batuqui, Mallorca and more. 

Our Around Town networking socials, which Dan championed, are hosted on the first Thursday of every month featuring new restaurants and venues such as Good Night John Boy, Saucy Brew Works Vibe Garden, Kaiser Art Gallery, North High Brewing, 1330 on the River and more. These events welcome over 100 young professionals to network with new people, have fun with friends and learn about the Club.

We are so grateful for Dan’s leadership, commitment to his team and perseverance when confronted with challenges.

Thank you, Dan, for furthering the mission of Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club by offering members an abundance of opportunities to socialize, network and make new friends. Our organization is incredibly grateful for your contributions and I wish you the best in your future endeavors. 

On behalf of the Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club Board, I would like to personally recognize Alex Johanson for her outstanding contributions to our club during her year-long tenure as Networking Director.

In this role, Alex organized a variety of engaging, creative events for club members to benefit from, including 15 dinners with local CEOs, two “Ladies Who Lead” panel discussions and five networking events, including a speed networking event and an event at Tower City hosted in partnership with Women in Networking Cleveland.

The CEO Dinner series is one of the club's longest standing institutions. Each month, Professional Members have the opportunity to join the CEO of a local company for a private dinner. These events are intentionally limited so everyone has an opportunity to share in a robust and inclusive discussion. Alex focused on inviting a diverse list of CEOs, half of whom were female, from a variety of industries. Each dinner lasted nearly 2.5 hours and offered young professionals the opportunity to learn from leaders and ask questions about their careers.

Our “Ladies Who Lead” panel discussions featured female leaders in the local community who shared unique details about their careers and offered advice to attendees, while our networking events allowed job seekers to find potential career opportunities. Over 500 tickets were sold to networking events planned and hosted by Alex.   

With these accomplishments, Alex distinguished herself as one of our most ambitious board members and a true asset to our team. 

Thank you, Alex, for furthering the mission of Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club by offering members an abundance of opportunities to network, learn and expand their horizons. We are incredibly grateful for your contributions and wish you the best in your future endeavors – especially your next chapter as you await the arrival of baby Johanson in June!

Sincerely, 
Melinda McNutt, President

Thank you to the CEOs who gave of their time to join us for dinner.

• Azadeh Hardiman, Business Leader, Level20
• Denise McGee, Chief Administrative Officer, Bellwether Enterprise Real Estate Capital
• Brent Zimmerman, CEO/ CO- Founder, Saucy Brew Works
• Darrell McNair, President, MVP Plastics
• Debbie Berry, Vice President of Community Development University Circle Inc.
• Matt Rodak, CEO of Fund That Flip
• Michael Deemer, CEO & President, Downtown Cleveland Alliance
• Ryan Anderson, Founding Partner, Anderson | Biro Staffing LLC
• Teleangé Thomas, Chief Advancement & Relationship Officer, JumpStart Inc.
• Micki Byrnes, President & General Manager, WKYC Media
• Tami Honkola - President & CEO, Help Foundation, Inc. 
• Baiju Shah - President & CEO, Greater Cleveland Partnership
• Justin Bibb - Chief Strategy Officer, Urbanova
• Marianne Crosley - President & CEO, Cleveland Leadership Center
• Cathy Belk - President & CEO, Deaconess Foundation

During the Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club’s 20^th year as an organization, we achieved record-breaking successes and want to take a moment to celebrate everything the Club achieved while thanking you for being part of our success!

This year, the Club welcomed 780 new members, which raised record-breaking membership revenue, the most we have seen since 2017. Our members represent all walks of life, work in a variety of industries around Cleveland, and are ages 21-45. 

This year we sold 3,200 event tickets through our 100+ events, resulting in record-breaking ticket revenues. Our Around Towns have seen immense growth and attendance since we started these monthly networking events in 2014.

This year we hosted 15 CEO dinners, supported 35 small businesses, brought back our Ladies Who Lead panel discussions, and volunteered with five non-profits.

We launched several new event series, including our Welcome to Cleveland program, Wine Club, and hosted a “Summer of Fun” series offering our members the opportunity to participate in exclusive events such as sailing, horseback riding, boating, and more.  

In March, we recognized the Top 25 Under 35 Young Professionals in Cleveland during the 15^th annual Movers and Shakers Awards. Application submissions have grown three straight years in a row.

In December, we hosted the 16^th Annual Stuff the Stocking Fundraiser, which raised $10,800 – twice what we raised in 2020 – and another exciting milestone in growing our signature events.

We are excited to witness such growth and to see what 2022 has in store for our organization. We welcome and encourage you to register for membership, check out our events calendar, and register for upcoming events.

Thank you for making the 20^th anniversary of the Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club a huge success!!

We are pleased to announce, Dan Moulthrop as the keynote speaker for the 16th Annual Top 25 Under 35 Movers and Shakers Awards.

Dan Moulthrop is CEO of The City Club of Cleveland, one of the nation's great free speech forums. Founded in 1912, The City Club convenes more than 120 programs every year on just about every issue and topic of importance to Northeast Ohio.

He joined the City Club in 2013. Prior to that he was co-founder of The Civic Commons, a Knight Foundation project creating a social media environment designed for civil civic dialogue. He was the award winning host of Sound of Ideas as part of the team at Ideastream Public Media.

A former public high school English teacher, Dan serves on the board of the Teach for America in Greater Cleveland and on the advisory board of the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Center for the Humanities at Cuyahoga Community College. He also serves as President of the board of the Ohio Debate Commission and Borderlight, Cleveland’s International Theatre Festival. He was a member of the Leadership Cleveland Class of 2014 and a 2019 Marshall Memorial Fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

Dan is also co-author, with Dave Eggers and Ninive Calegari, of the best-selling book Teachers Have it Easy: The Big Sacrifices and Small Salaries of America's Teachers (The New Press, 2005), which provided the basis for the 2010 documentary "American Teacher." He was also co-editor, with RA Washington of A Race Anthology: Dispatches and Artifacts from a Segregated City (2016). Dan is a frequent moderator of public conversations and has appeared on stages across the country, including the Aspen Ideas Festival and the Commonwealth Club of California. He received both his BA in English Literature and a Master’s of Journalism from the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Shaker Heights, Ohio, with his wife and three children.

Join us on March 3 at The City Club of Cleveland to hear Dan's keynote address and celebrate our latest winners for their excellence in work, civic engagement, academia, and/or philanthropic efforts.

Applications close on January 31. All young professionals in the Greater Cleveland area are welcomed and encouraged to apply. You do not need to be nominated to apply. Please click HERE to learn more about the award. 

The Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club is excited to announce that a record-breaking $10,800 was raised during the 17th Annual Stuff the Stocking Fundraiser benefitting Believe in Dreams.

On December 9, nearly 150 young professionals gathered together to raise funds for a deserving non-profit in Cleveland.

Once a year, The Cleveland 20/30 Club selects a local non-profit that is making a difference in the lives of children and throws a festive fundraiser in its honor. The evening replaces the December networking event and asks members to rally together to make an impact on the chosen charity's mission. The event features amazing raffle prizes, auction items, and more.

In 2020, the 20/30 Club raised a record-breaking $5,500 during the 16th annual Stuff the Stocking Fundraiser benefitting the Providence House. The 20/30 Club Board is excited to have doubled its fundraising efforts in 2021. Stuff the Stocking started in 2005, when Club members raised $980 for Shoes and Clothes for Kids. Over the last seventeen years, the Club has raised over $45,000 for several organizations including Youth Opportunities Unlimited, Prayers from Maria, Kids Book Bank, Merrick House, and more.  

The mission of Believe in Dreams is to fulfill the dreams of economically disadvantaged youth who have survived non-medical adversity by providing access to enriching opportunities, connection to community, and hope for the future. While most children dream of trips to Disney World, electronics, and gifts for the holidays, dreamers nominated to Believe in Dreams dream of a life with less pain, disappointment, and isolation. Research has found that children who suffer adverse childhood experiences have a substantially higher-risk of long-term negative impacts on their physical and mental health unless they build resiliency. Dreamer nominations are growing by an average of 30% each year and a fully-funded dream costs $3,000.  

The 17^th Annual Stuff the Stocking event was led by the Club’s Philanthropy Director, Bridget Corrigan, and her committee members, Melissa Wollenberg and Polly Mytinger. The event was sponsored by, Brooks and Stafford, and raffle baskets were generously donated by Anderson | Biro Staffing, LLC, Brew Kettle, Browns, Browns Fit, Cleveland International Film Festival, Cycle Bar, Harness Cycle, Holistic Halo Salt Spa, Mallorca, Marengo Luxury Spa, Melt, Morton's Steak House, Southern Tier Brewery, Sherwin Williams, Taza, The Nine, The Flat Iron, Titos, Dan Basco, Bridget Corrigan, Meghan Crute, Nicole Fantozzi, Hunter Gates, Phoenix Hill, Eric Kauffman, Radin Mason, Melinda McNutt, Polly Mytinger, Melissa Wollenberg.

Please visit our official website page HERE to learn more about Stuff the Stocking. Save the date and join us on December 8, 2022 for the 18th annual Stuff the Stocking Fundraiser.

My name is Alex Johanson and I am proud to serve as the Networking Director for the 2021-2022 calendar year at Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club. I would like to express my relationship and role with the club, and how I feel others can benefit from this group as well. 

I still remember my first Around Town event - held two years ago at Around the Corner in Lakewood. The former Social Director and current President, Melinda McNutt, slapped on a red name tag for me to signify this was my first event and proceeded to introduce me to everyone she knew. Fast forward two years and I am proud to not only call Melinda both a friend and colleague, but to sit alongside Melinda and the other current board members working to grow and enhance the club’s mission this term.

My career in commercial real estate, like most sales jobs, relies on relationships. I initially joined the Club to expand my professional network and link up with other like-minded individuals in the area that are focused on growing their career. I have found the Club to do just that. Like anything in life, I believe one will receive from the Club what they input. Networking is a skill that takes constant refinement and polishing - it requires practice to uphold! 

Even as a sales professional, I sometimes still need to find courage to meet with a new person, ask for a business referral or a new lead.  The 20/30 Club offers continual practice in meeting people you otherwise wouldn’t have engaged with or refining your elevator pitch to a new group of prospects.  As the Networking Director, my duties include hosting monthly Happy Hour meet ups, monthly CEO dinners with noteworthy business leaders, quarterly Ladies Who Lead panels with inspiring female business professionals and more. 

I’m often asked if the 20/30 Club has orchestrated new business for me and my sales team... the answer is "not YET". However, it has strategically positioned me with a new group of otherwise strangers and created new personal and professional relationships that I have deemed invaluable. I am continuously amazed at the team's strengths and skill sets, and I am confident I can say I am serving with a strong group of Cleveland’s future community of business leaders and I encourage you to join us. 

Thank you, 

Alex

Name: Thomas W. Dufour

Occupation: Director of Accounts and Business Development – emBold

Tell us about yourself: I'm a 35-year-old web professional, new dad, husband, and a dog guy. I moved to Cleveland in 2015 and live with my family in a great city next to Cleveland Hopkins airport called Brook Park, with our son Thomas and our two dogs Missy and Bubba. I love being active in the community, am a proud former board member of the 20/30 Club.

Why did you move to Cleveland? Simple, boring answer: My wife got transferred here for work. As newlyweds, Cleveland presented an excellent place for us to start building our life together. Being a native of Toledo and my wife of Pittsburgh, Cleveland is equidistant from both of our hometowns.

What advice do you have for young people that just moved here? First, welcome! Cleveland is a vibrant and dynamic place, especially when you know where to look. Northeast Ohio is growing and changing faster than anyone can imagine – you're at the forefront of a regional rebirth. My advice – find what you love here and get involved in it. To those reading this, we've never met, but I know we need your help to push things forward. Join us!

What surprised you the most about Cleveland? Most people talk about the food scene surprising them – but that wasn't it for me. Instead, what surprised me the most about Cleveland is how much it can feel like a small town, even though you're in a major city. People in Cleveland maintain their friends for life here. I don't think it's uncommon to run into someone for the first time, and they're hanging out with a friend they've had since grade school. I think that's lost in a lot of big cities.

How have you grown your business or career since moving to Cleveland? When I moved to Cleveland, I had my own website development company back in Pittsburgh, but in 2019 I merged my business with emBold, an incredible website development company based in Akron. Since the merger, we've grown our revenue 41%, despite the global pandemic, we have moved our business into the Bounce Innovation Hub, where we're among some of the greatest innovators in the region, and we have also begun work on spinning out a separate startup company using our internal talent and resources. In short, things have never been better, regardless of the obvious challenges.

What do you hope to gain in your career or personal life in the next 5 years? Outside of growing emBold and launching our startup, I'm currently a Brook Park City Council candidate, where I hope to bring a unique perspective to the council. With my experience in business/entrepreneurship, technology, local government, and all of the places I've visited and learned from over the years, I feel I'd be an asset to helping Brook Park realize the renaissance that's right around the corner. I'm also just excited to see our son Tommy grow up. As of this interview, he's almost ten months old, is just taking his first steps and starting to say his first words. I'm already looking forward to looking back at this question on the website and remembering him as he was when I answered this question!

Tell us how you found out about the Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club and how did it help you in transitioning to Cleveland? Well – this wasn't my first time starting over. I grew up in Toledo and moved to Pittsburgh at 19, where I didn't know a soul. When my wife and I moved to Cleveland, I left behind a life I had built over a decade in Pittsburgh. 

When I moved to The Steel City, I had all of college to make friends. But after that ended, when many of my friends moved back home or took jobs in other cities, a local professional networking organization called Pittsburgh Young Professionals helped me build the next iteration of friends and contacts in my life. So, moving to Cleveland, I looked around at the networking organizations out there and decided that Cleveland 20/30 was more than just for networking – it's an organization dedicated to personal and professional growth and is apt for showing new people the best Northeast Ohio has to offer. I jumped at the opportunity to attend an event, and here we are today!

The folks who plan events in this Club should be ambassadors for the region. I always love exploring somewhere new with the Club. Being a part of Cleveland 20/30 exposes you to a lot of new people and places quickly. The Club hosts several unique events monthly, and every single one is a fantastic time. I encourage everyone moving here to throw as many 20/30 events on your calendar as you can!

If you are new to Cleveland, be sure to register and apply for our Welcome to Cleveland program. 

My name is Dan Basco. I am honored to be the Social Director of the Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club during this 20^th year.

To give you a little background about myself, I was born and raised in a small suburb of Cleveland called Independence. I moved to Columbus after graduate school, and became a member of their young professional group while working and living there. I moved back here in 2016, and immediately started attending Cleveland 20/30 events. My attendance ramped up in 2019, and just as I was hoping to start planning in-person events in 2020… we all know what happened. 

I took over the Social Director role at the start of this year, and instantly started to plan some fun virtual events: a virtual beer tasting with Southern Tier Brewery and a virtual wine tasting with CLE Urban Winery. Through these events, along with virtual icebreakers and board interviews, one common thread emerged – everyone is eager to get back out there and meet other young professionals in the area. Even over Zoom, I could sense the excitement, enthusiasm, and optimism from our members!

Looking ahead, as Social Director, I hope you get the opportunity to visit some local places or try some new things that you might not normally do on your own. Our monthly Around Towns, the club’s biggest event, will showcase some of Cleveland's relatively new hotspots (such as Saucy Brew Works Vibe Garden, which is our August Around Town event) that opened during or just before the pandemic. These events are huge and often have hundreds of members! 

For those who prefer a smaller crowd, we have many smaller events that generally have 10-20 people that attend. To showcase the wide variety of cultures, cuisines, and neighborhoods in Cleveland, we brought back the Global Gourmet series this May. It’s important to me that we support these small local businesses. Every month, we do a small group dinner at a local cultural restaurant – the July dinner is at Xinji Noodle Bar for Japanese Ramen in Ohio City on July 22nd.  You will have the chance to attend these dinners if you purchase a Professional Membership! Additionally, with the great park systems we have here in Northeast Ohio, we run monthly hikes where we showcase some of our great local and national parks in Cuyahoga and Summit County. We also have monthly meetups at the Edgewater Park Beach House this summer.

We have already started a couple of co-ed volleyball leagues, where you have the familiarity of seeing the same people every week, while exercising and making friends. Building up co-ed sports leagues (and game leagues such as trivia) is one of my goals as Social Director for the 2021-22 year. In addition, we plan to attend sporting events in person, such as an Indians baseball game on August 27th. We also have a number of one-off events that are in the works, which could range from anything exercise-related, to learning how to make cocktails, or to visit something local like a tour of the Christmas Story House.

I’d love to hear from you if you have any feedback about any of the events we have in the works, or what kinds of events we could be doing. Please reach out to me at social@cleveland2030.org. I look forward to hearing from you, or seeing you at an event!

Sincerely, 

Dan Basco