Congratulations to Colleen Gilson, VP of CDC Advancement for Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, as she was named CDC Staff Person of the Year by the Ohio CDC Association earlier this month. Gilson was presented the award at the annual OCDCA conference held in Columbus, OH on October 3-5. She was introduced by Joe Cimperman, President of Global Cleveland. You can click here to see a video of the award presentation and acceptance.
Colleen has been involved in the field of Community Development in the City of Cleveland for over 20 years. She began her career with the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization moving to the Tremont West Development Corporation (TWDC) in the late 90’s. During her tenure at both organizations, she held several different positions culminating with her 4-year period as Executive Director of TWDC. Most recently, she served as the Executive Director of the Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition (CNDC), the trade association for the Cleveland Community Development Corporation industry.
In her current role with Neighborhood Progress, she oversees grant-making, capacity building, leadership development, advocacy, shared services and is working with the CDC community on creating an even more efficient and aligned system of community development service delivery.
Colleen holds a B.A. in Political Science from Hillsdale College and various professional certifications. She is a member of several Boards in the greater Cleveland area. She is a member and President of the 2010 Leadership Cleveland class and a 2011 American Marshall Fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. In 2006, Colleen was honored as one of Cleveland Crain’s Business Forty Under 40.
Colleen is a life-long resident of the City of Cleveland. Both raised there, she and her husband Sean enjoy living in the neighborhood of Westpark. Colleen is a group exercise instructor with the Greater Cleveland YMCA teaching Bootcamp and Y-Cycle and is an avid rower, boater and runner. On Lake Erie and in any of the Metroparks are two favorite places Colleen and Sean spend their time.
Colleen considers her fondest “Cleveland” memory as the period of time she and her late Mother lived in the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood. Renovating an old home on Franklin Boulevard as mother/daughter and true best friends is the life event that led her into the field of Community Development.