Create Columbus is comprised of an outstanding and diverse group of YPs; including business builders, community organizers, innovation leaders, artists, and civic activists spanning a wide variety of industries and backgrounds. Create Columbus members are nominated and appointed by their peers for renewable three-year terms. Collectively, members of Create Columbus spend more than 2000 volunteer hours every year advancing the work of Create Columbus.
Executive Committee (2020)
- Chair — Densil R. Porteous, Founder, DePorteous | CEO, Pride Fund I
- Vice Chair — Aba Azeem, Regional Training Manager, Verizon/Go Wireless
- Secretary — Cassandra Young, Cofounder, Matter News + Cloud City
- Treasurer — Maylin Sambois, CEO, Butterfly Effect | Co-founder of Femergy
- Vice Chair, Governance — Stuart McIntyre, Community Learning Center Organizer, Ohio Federation of Teachers
Board
- Corey Favor, Director, Community Engagement & Strategic Partnerships, Orange Barrel Media
- Alex Frommeyer, Co-Founder and CEO, Beam Dental
- Amelia Gandara, Principal, Nationwide Ventures
- Nora Gerber, Community Relations Coordinator, City of Columbus – Department of Neighborhoods
- Chenelle Jones, Assistant Dean, Franklin University
- Jill Londino, Director of Operations & Special Projects, Pelotonia
- Christina Patel, Director of Development, The Ohio State University
- Nicole Plant, Consumer Marketing Manager, Safelite Group
- Gerry Rodriguez, Chief of Staff, Kaufman Development
- Kyle Strickland, Attorney, Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity
General Members
- Doug Arseneault, Public Affairs Administrator, Central Ohio Transit
- Hakim Callwood, Visual Artist
- Mandi Caskey, Owner, Birdy Co as a muralist, painter and fine artist
- Jay Clouse, Founder, Unreal Collective
- Melissa Crum, Diversity & Equity Practitioner, Mosaic Education Network
- Tim Fulton, Partner, Horizon Two Labs
- Usjid Hameed, Government Affairs and Development Director, CAIR-Ohio
- Alexa Hanna, User Experience Researcher, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
- Anna Hetzel, Conversion Copywriter & Brand Strategist — Owner, Strange Birds LLC
- Alex Ingley, Special Projects Manager, YMCA of Central Ohio
- Phil Kim, Marketing & Communications Director, Ohio Citizens for the Arts
- Andrew King, Attorney, Squire Patton Boggs
- Anita Kwan, Founder, Reel Hoot Productions
- Louisa Lee, Product Manager, CoverMyMeds
- Madeline McIntyre, Director, Student-Athlete Development, Ohio State University Athletics
- Pedro David Mejia, Community Relations Coordinator, City of Columbus Department of Neighborhoods
- Jose Morales-Crispin, Hispanic Community Outreach & Engagement Coordinator, Franklin County Sheriff’s Office
- Jesús Ovalle, Program Manager, Columbus Public Health
- Tyiesha Radford Shorts, Program Coordinator of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion program, College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio State University
- Ibrahima Sow, Chairman, Ohio African Immigrants Commission
- Gabriela Torres, Visual Artist
- Reed Walter, Founder & CEO Rise Mental Fitness Studio
- Garth Weithman, Director, Advocacy & Engagement at United Way of Central Ohio
Former Commissioners
Bryan Ashton, Assistant Director – Student Wellness Center, The Ohio State University
Habiba Bankston, Senior Community Relations Specialist, L Brands
Lourdes Barroso de Padillia
Beth Berkemer
Robert Bickis, Jr., Real Estate Consultant/Broker, MoveDowntownColumbus.com
Justin Bickle, Columbus 2020
Amy Bishop
Haley Boehning
Siobhan Boyd-Nelson, Director of Development, Equality Ohio
Kacey Brankamp
Shawn Broadus, Partner, Suite78 Marketing & Advertising
Michael Brown, Experience Columbus
Benjamin Buckner, Account Executive, Radio One, Inc.
John Carney
Brian Chee
Christina Christian, Program Manager, Startup Week @ Techstars
Kate Christobek
Joseph Clark III, Consultant, Nationwide Insurance
Ben Clarke, President & CEO, The Shipyard
Darci Congrove
Jessica Davis, College Relations Manager, Cardinal Health
Jordan Davis*, Director of Smart Cities Strategy and Collaboration, The Columbus Partnership
Travis Dent
Joel Diaz
Andrew Dodson, Director of Marketing, MKSK
Yaves Ellis, Marketing Director, Radio One Columbus and President & CEO, Sling Shot Media Group LLC
Walker Evans, Columbus Underground
Abdi Farah
Nicole Farrell
Matthew Goldstein, Executive Director, Besa
Holly Gross, Vice President of Government Relations, Columbus Chamber of Commerce
Derek Grosso
Virginia Nunes Gutierrez, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder, AVANZA
Maurice Hall
Stefphanie Harper, Mayor’s Office
Shanda Harris
Kevin Hemmelgarn, Partner, Northstar Cafe
Chuck Hootman
Andy Hutter, Director Of Partnerships at Beam Dental
Laura Jackson*, Founder, The Safe Space
Regina Johnson
Doug Joseph, Founder/President, Serif Creative
Brendan Kelley
Noel Klay
Josh Lapp, Co-Founder and Principal, Designing Local
Elizabeth Lessner
Ashley Lester
Mike McCann, Vice President of Programs and Partner Engagement, Rev1 Ventures
Steve Michalovich, General Manager, Wondersauce
Jon Myers
Kym Nelson
Correy Parks, Musician and Front of House, Idea Foundry
Ken Paul
Alison Pegg
Cinnamon Pelly
Robert Perryman, Associate, Isaac Wiles Burkholder & Teetor LLC
Nick Potts, CEO, ScriptDrop
Chris Ritchie, Head of Partnerships at CrossChx
Karac Ruleau
Chris Rutter
Molly Ryan, Co-founder, MStyle LLC
Amy Schmittauer
Elissa Schneider
Mike Schott, Director of Community Development, Kaufman Development
Greg Schultz
Erin Scott, Director of Strategic Initiatives, further.faster
Dan Sharpe, Columbus Foundation
Oyango Snell
Liz Sonnanstine
Mikey Sorboro, Owner, LNS Restaurant Group
Nicole Staples Walker, Director – External Affairs, AT&T
Heather Starck
Wolf Starr, Director, Connects Columbus @102.5 / President, Atlas Community Partners
Kelly Stevelt
Kaser Emily Swartzlander
Steve Swift, Business Manager, Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Jacob Taylor, Co-Founder, CivitasNow
Yohannan Terrell, CEO/Co-Founder, Warhol & WALL ST
Long Tran
Mike Valo
Josué Vicente
Antone White
Julie Wilkes, Owner, Seven Studios and North American Wellness Director, Accenture
Kalitha Williams
TyKiah Wright
Lora Zotter Director, First Connect Programs with Rev1 Ventures
Habiba Bankston, Senior Community Relations Specialist, L Brands
Lourdes Barroso de Padillia
Beth Berkemer
Robert Bickis, Jr., Real Estate Consultant/Broker, MoveDowntownColumbus.com
Justin Bickle, Columbus 2020
Amy Bishop
Haley Boehning
Siobhan Boyd-Nelson, Director of Development, Equality Ohio
Kacey Brankamp
Shawn Broadus, Partner, Suite78 Marketing & Advertising
Michael Brown, Experience Columbus
Benjamin Buckner, Account Executive, Radio One, Inc.
John Carney
Brian Chee
Christina Christian, Program Manager, Startup Week @ Techstars
Kate Christobek
Joseph Clark III, Consultant, Nationwide Insurance
Ben Clarke, President & CEO, The Shipyard
Darci Congrove
Jessica Davis, College Relations Manager, Cardinal Health
Jordan Davis*, Director of Smart Cities Strategy and Collaboration, The Columbus Partnership
Travis Dent
Joel Diaz
Andrew Dodson, Director of Marketing, MKSK
Yaves Ellis, Marketing Director, Radio One Columbus and President & CEO, Sling Shot Media Group LLC
Walker Evans, Columbus Underground
Abdi Farah
Nicole Farrell
Matthew Goldstein, Executive Director, Besa
Holly Gross, Vice President of Government Relations, Columbus Chamber of Commerce
Derek Grosso
Virginia Nunes Gutierrez, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder, AVANZA
Maurice Hall
Stefphanie Harper, Mayor’s Office
Shanda Harris
Kevin Hemmelgarn, Partner, Northstar Cafe
Chuck Hootman
Andy Hutter, Director Of Partnerships at Beam Dental
Laura Jackson*, Founder, The Safe Space
Regina Johnson
Doug Joseph, Founder/President, Serif Creative
Brendan Kelley
Noel Klay
Josh Lapp, Co-Founder and Principal, Designing Local
Elizabeth Lessner
Ashley Lester
Mike McCann, Vice President of Programs and Partner Engagement, Rev1 Ventures
Steve Michalovich, General Manager, Wondersauce
Jon Myers
Kym Nelson
Correy Parks, Musician and Front of House, Idea Foundry
Ken Paul
Alison Pegg
Cinnamon Pelly
Robert Perryman, Associate, Isaac Wiles Burkholder & Teetor LLC
Nick Potts, CEO, ScriptDrop
Chris Ritchie, Head of Partnerships at CrossChx
Karac Ruleau
Chris Rutter
Molly Ryan, Co-founder, MStyle LLC
Amy Schmittauer
Elissa Schneider
Mike Schott, Director of Community Development, Kaufman Development
Greg Schultz
Erin Scott, Director of Strategic Initiatives, further.faster
Dan Sharpe, Columbus Foundation
Oyango Snell
Liz Sonnanstine
Mikey Sorboro, Owner, LNS Restaurant Group
Nicole Staples Walker, Director – External Affairs, AT&T
Heather Starck
Wolf Starr, Director, Connects Columbus @102.5 / President, Atlas Community Partners
Kelly Stevelt
Kaser Emily Swartzlander
Steve Swift, Business Manager, Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Jacob Taylor, Co-Founder, CivitasNow
Yohannan Terrell, CEO/Co-Founder, Warhol & WALL ST
Long Tran
Mike Valo
Josué Vicente
Antone White
Julie Wilkes, Owner, Seven Studios and North American Wellness Director, Accenture
Kalitha Williams
TyKiah Wright
Lora Zotter Director, First Connect Programs with Rev1 Ventures
*Denotes former member of the Board