The Cleveland Council on World Affairs announces the appointment of four new members to its Board of Directors. The new directors joining the CCWA Board are Kathryn Lavelle, Rebecca Kopp Levine, Elena Ray, and Paul Winkeler. The newly elected board members will assume their positions on July 1, 2022.

“We are most excited to welcome these four new board members to our CCWA family. It is an exciting time to be a part of this organization as we approach our centennial in 2023. We look forward to the energy, expertise and talent that these new board members will collectively bring to our organization as CCWA enters its second century of inspiring engagement in world affairs and advancing international understanding. These four individuals will all be a great asset to CCWA.” says Carina Van Vliet, CEO of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs.

Kathryn Lavelle brings deep and extensive international relations knowledge to the CCWA Board. She is the Ellen and Dixon Long Professor in World Affairs at Case Western Reserve University and a global fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in its Global Europe program.

Rebecca Kopp Levine is a Partner at the law firm Porter Wright Morris & Arthur, with expertise in employment law. She helps employers proactively manage their workforce issues to help them reduce their risk and improve the productivity of their workforce. Becca is also a former active member of the CCWA young professionals’ group and has long been involved in CCWA’s work.

Elena Ray, a native of Russia, is West Territory Sales Executive for Business Banking at PNC Bank. Elena has three decades of experience with PNC. She is a long-time active CCWA Citizen Diplomat and enjoys hosting visitors from all over the world in her home.

Paul Winkeler, a native of the Netherlands, is the Chief Technology Architect at Dataserv. DataServ is an Information Technology Managed Services provider that brings technology as a utility service to its customers. Paul brings to CCWA a wealth of experience in technology and data security.

The mission of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs is to inspire engagement in international affairs and world cultures through education, citizen diplomacy, and public dialogue. CCWA’s programs include speaker forums, student programs, professional development programs, and international exchanges. For inquiries, please contact Jenni Carney, Director of Development and Marketing at jcarney@ccwa.org.

CCWA’s Board of Directors 2022-2023:

Harlin Adelman

Raj Aggarwal, Ph.D.

Christopher Blake

Heather Burnett

Paul Clark

Richard P. Eastburn

Howard B. Edelstein

Seda Ergun

David Fleshler

Hiroyuki Fujita, Ph.D.

Michael Gleason

Fritz Heintel

Wael Khoury, M.D.

Michael Knall

Kathryn Lavelle, Ph.D

Rebecca Kopp Levine

Deborah E. Morin, Ph.D.

Michael Obi

Stephen J. Petras, Jr.

Richard W. Pogue

Elena Ray

Linda F. Robertson, Ph.D.

Michael Salkind, Ph.D

Martin C. Schulz

Fareed Siddiq

Donald A. Sinko

Carter Strang, Chair

Monica Verma

Paul Winkeler

Mark Zannoni

Nizar Zein, M.D.

David O. Zimmer

Emeritus Directors

Donald Cairns

Barbara Hawkins

Honorary Directors

Amb. Charles F. Dunbar

Amb. John D. Ong

Henry Precht

Amb. William R. Timken, Jr.