Acknowledgments

A special thanks to the people and organizations who worked tirelessly to make this important work come to life:

Funders
GAR Foundation and Knight Foundation

City of Akron
Mayor Daniel Horrigan
Rich Swirsky (Ward 1 Council Representative, President Pro-Tem )
Phil Lombardo (Ward 2 Council Representative)
Margo Sommerville (Ward 3 Council Representative, President of Council)
Russel C. Neal, Jr. (Ward 4 Council Representative)
Tara Samples (Ward 5 Council Representative)
Brad McKitrick (Ward 6 Council Representative)
Donnie Kammer (Ward 7 Council Representative)
Shammas Malik (Ward 8 Council Representative)
Mike Freeman (Ward 9 Council Representative)
Sharon Connor (Ward 10 Council Representative)
Jeff Fusco (At-Large Representative, Vice President)
Linda F. R. Omobien (At-Large Representative)
Ginger Baylor (At-Large Representative)

Akron Cultural Plan Steering Committee
Dr. Leslie Barnes (YEPAW, Arlington Church of God) 
Theresa Boware (Akron Summit County Public Library, Odom Branch Director)      
Patrick Bravo (Summit County Landbank, Executive Director)
Veronica Cook-Euell (Kent State University, Supplier Diversity Program Manager)      
Miss Shirley Finney (Summit Lake, Resident)      
Puspa Gajmer (Himalayan Arts Language & Cultural Academy (HALCA), Executive/Artistic Director)      
John Garofalo (Akron Community Foundation)   
Cristina González Alcalá (Summit Education Initiative)     
Suzie Graham (Downtown Akron Partnership, President)      
James Hardy (City of Akron, Deputy Mayor for Integrated Development)   
Justin Hilton (Kent State University, Senior Associate VP for University Relations) 
Greta Johnson (County of Summit, Assistant Chief of Staff/PIO)      
Sean Joyce (Stan Hywet, President & Executive Director) 
Beth Knorr (Summit Food Coalition, Executive Director)    
Sandra Kurt (County of Summit, Clerk of Courts)      
Rob Lehr (GAR Foundation, Program Officer)      
Dave Lieberth (The Lieberth Consulting Group)      
Mark Masuoka (Akron Art Museum, former John S. Knight Director & CEO)      
Carla Moore (Retired Judge, Ohio Ninth District Court of Appeals)    
Dominic Moore-Dunson (Inlet Dance, Dancer, and Choreographer)         
Eric Nelson (Students With A Goal)      
Doug Piekarz (Akron Zoo, President and CEO, Center for Applied Drama and Autism board member)      
Rick Rogers (Curated Storefronts)
Brittany Schmoekel (City of Akron, Manager, Recreation Bureau) 
Jason Segedy (City of Akron, Director of Planning and Urban Development)    
Priya Sircar (Knight Foundation, Arts Director)    
Jim Slowiak (New World Performance Lab/The University of Akron Theatre and Arts Administration)      
Karen Starr (Hazel Tree Design)      
Bronlynn Thurman (GAR Foundation and Artist)      
Arnold Tunstall (The University of Akron)      
Pastor Deniela Williams (New Millennium Baptist Church, Pastor)   

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access Reviews
Daniel Juday

Planning Process, Research, Communications, and Support
Designing Local and Amp Strategy

Management and Leadership
ArtsNow

POWERED BY
the citizens of Akron