Test Event Page - Speaker Bios 2

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 hosts about 100 forums every year in pursuit of its mission to create conversations of consequence that help democracy thrive.

Dan has served on the boards of Teach for America in Greater Cleveland, the Teacher Salary Project; the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Center for the Humanities at Cuyahoga Community College and the Ohio Debate Commission. He is currently also a member of the boards of the Downtown Cleveland Alliance 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.

Prior to joining the City Club in 2013 he was co-founder of The Civic Commons, a Knight Foundation project creating a social media environment designed for civil civic dialogue. He was also the founding host of the public radio program "Sound of Ideas" as part of the team at Ideastream Public Media in Cleveland, Ohio.

A former public high school English teacher, 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, Chautauqua, and the Commonwealth Club of California. He received both his BA in English Literature and a Master of Journalism from the University of California, Berkeley. He and his family live in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

Dr. Jennifer Dodd serves as Assistant Superintendent of the Educational Service Center of Northeast Ohio, where she has spent 20 years bringing together education, government, philanthropy, business and community partners to expand opportunities for children, families and communities. Her academic background spans psychology, special education, policy and law, informing her approach to the connections between individual needs, public systems and community opportunity.

In addition to her operational leadership, her work spans integrated student supports, career pathways and regional partnerships, with an emphasis on connecting systems, reducing barriers and turning shared priorities into action. Jennifer has helped establish Northeast Ohio’s Career Pathways Support Network and Cuyahoga County’s Regional Education Partnership. A Cleveland State University alumna, she is committed to developing partnerships and future leaders who can navigate complexity and create lasting community impact.
 

Vickie Johnson is Cleveland Clinic’s first Chief Community Officer. She leads Cleveland Clinic’s efforts to nurture healthy communities, improve our neighbors’ lives and meet their evolving needs. Vickie guides strategic community planning nationally and internationally while cultivating collaborations with local institutions, government agencies, elected officials, and healthcare professionals to bring about meaningful change. She holds a master’s degree in public administration from Cleveland State University, a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Baldwin-Wallace College and is completing a doctorate in urban studies and public affairs at Cleveland State University. Vickie serves on numerous boards and committees and has received many awards, including the Greater Cleveland Partnership Richard A. Shatten Professional Leadership Award.

Sarah Johnson is an experienced marketing and communications professional with a background in economic development, government, higher education, and healthcare. Currently, she serves as the Chief Communications Officer for the City of Cleveland in the Office of Mayor Justin M. Bibb. In this role, she oversees all marketing, communications, and media relations for the city and advises the mayor on communications priorities and public engagements. Before this role, Sarah led the marketing and communications strategy for the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the region’s metropolitan chamber of commerce, and served as the director of marketing and advertising at Case Western Reserve University. Sarah started her marketing and communications career with the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals. Crain's Cleveland Business recognized her as a Notable Leader in Communications in 2024 and as one of the 20 Notable Marketing Executives of 2021. She also received Northeast Ohio’s Distinguished Marketing and Sales Award in 2020.

Sarah holds an MBA with a specialization in healthcare administration from Cleveland State University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in speech pathology from Loyola University in Maryland. 

Jason Russell is an urban planning and project management leader with over a decade of experience driving community-centric developments. He currently serves as Vice President of Planning and Development for the North Coast Waterfront Development Corporation, guiding the strategic revitalization of Cleveland’s downtown lakefront.

His experience includes serving as Vice President of Operations and Leasing at Bedrock and Neighborhood General Manager for Shaker Heights’ Van Aken District. His public sector experience includes serving as a city planner for the City of Lakewood, overseeing design and construction of the award-winning Solstice Steps project and led key housing and storefront programs. He has also served as a City Councilman in South Euclid. 

Jason continues to serve his community as a board member of the Cleveland Public Market Corporation, First Federal of Lakewood, New Village Corp, and is a member of the Shaker Heights Planning Commission.