Lillian Kuri

Lillian Kuri is president and CEO of the Cleveland Foundation, the world's first community foundation. When she took the role on August 1, 2023, she became the first woman to lead it. She is guiding the foundation's strategic plan for a vibrant Northeast Ohio where no Cleveland neighborhood is left behind.

Kuri joined the foundation in 2005. As executive vice president and chief operating officer, she led its move to Cleveland's MidTown and Hough neighborhoods. Earlier, as vice president for strategic grantmaking, arts and urban design, she championed arts, culture and placemaking, including an arts mastery initiative for thousands of young people. She led the revitalization of the Greater University Circle district, now a national model for anchor institution strategies, and co-founded the Evergreen Cooperatives, a network of employee-owned businesses.

A licensed architect, she holds a Master of Architecture in urban design from Harvard and a Bachelor of Architecture from Kent State. She was executive director of Cleveland Public Art from 2000 to 2004 and earlier managed Cleveland's citywide plan. In 2022 she became the first woman to chair the Cleveland Planning Commission.