GREATER CLEVELAND FOOD BANK NAMES NEW VICE PRESIDENT OF TALENT AND LEGAL AFFAIRS

The Greater Cleveland Food Bank is pleased to announce that Valissa Turner Howard, Esq. has been named to the new position of Vice President of Talent and Legal Affairs. In her new role, she will lead our talent development, human resources, volunteer engagement and organizational culture building work and participate actively in further developing and implementing organizational strategy. This leader will oversee our talented human resources and volunteer services teams, leading in recruiting, developing and mobilizing top-notch talent both paid and unpaid, in service to our mission of ensuring that everyone in our communities has the nutritious food they need every day. She will also lead our work to ensure that diversity, equity and inclusion are strengths of our organization as well as review and update the Food Bank’s Reviews charters, bylaws and other governing documents as appropriate and makes recommendations for improvement.

Howard is a certified diversity professional and licensed attorney. Her passion for recognizing the need for cultural change and facilitating diversity and inclusion work was sparked 20 years ago at the University of California, Irvine, where she worked in several offices that were essentially academic support systems and safe spaces for students of diverse cultural, racial, socioeconomic and ability backgrounds.  Since then, r Howard. has held numerous professional positions where she honed her skills as a diversity professional, and was tasked to develop, implement, and administer programs and projects that reflect a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“This is a newly created position to lead our efforts to support our most valuable resource: our people – both paid employees and volunteers,” said Kristin Warzocha, President & CEO, Greater Cleveland Food Bank. “Valissa will also lead our DEI work and help with some legal work and contract review as well. We are thrilled to have her join the Food Bank’s executive team.”

Howard is also an engaged civic and community leader leading diversity, equity, and inclusion projects for organizations like the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, the Junior League of Cleveland, and the Lakeland Foundation. Howard obtained her B.A. from the University of California, Irvine and received an M.A. and Certification in Diversity Management from Cleveland State University. She received her J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Howard currently lives in the greater Cleveland area with her husband Karrie D. Howard, Esq. They have four children.

The Greater Cleveland Food Bank is the largest hunger relief organization in Northeast Ohio having provided more than 56 million meals in FY2020 to hungry people in Cuyahoga, Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake, Ashland and Richland counties. Our mission is working together to ensure that everyone in our communities has the nutritious food they need every day. We do this through both food distribution and SNAP outreach efforts as well as connecting people to additional resources. For more information go to www.GreaterClevelandFoodBank.org.