Kimalon Dixon
As Chief of Staff, Kimalon Dixon is responsible for the strategic alignment of operations, programming and external partnerships to increase the organization’s ability to power initiatives driving economic development, entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem building across Northern Ohio. Kimalon recently served as Senior Project Director of Cleveland (CLE) Purpose Built Communities, a partnership between the Cleveland
Alison King
Ali leads the Burton D. Morgan Mentoring Program, which matches local tech startups with experienced entrepreneurs and subject matter experts in Northeast Ohio to grow faster and scale smarter. Most recently, Ali served as Director, Partnerships and Career Strategy at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she was on faculty for its Center for Innovative
Andrea Bender
As the Events & Logistics Manager, Andrea works cross-organizationally to ensure that the Jumpstart team and constituency have productive and impactful experiences by building on the established successes of the organization while looking to advance future partnerships. Prior to joining Jumpstart, Andrea led events, stewardship, and fundraising at some of the region’s premier nonprofits including
Antoinette Berry-Snowden
In her role as Program Support Specialist, Learning Centers, Antoinette ensures smooth communication and metrics collection/reporting between the Verizon Learning Centers and the rest of the team, both internally here at JumpStart, and externally with our partners. In addition, she provides support to the Learning Centers themselves, helping to facilitate programming designed to bridge the
Brittany Hurt
As the IT Systems Supervisor, Brittany provides cross-functional support to end-users at all JumpStart locations, sister companies, and tech centers. She assists with software/hardware troubleshooting, PC/Laptop configurations, and system security. She is also responsible for the monitoring, maintenance, development, and administration of cloud-based software as well as on-prem servers. As JumpStart grows and changes, she
Camille Heard
As Entrepreneur-In-Residence, Camille Heard serves JumpStart’s entrepreneur clients by guiding them through market validation, customer discovery, creating a scalable business model, and navigating Northeast Ohio’s entrepreneurial resources. Camille also services The Urban League, The President’s Council, The Hispanic Business Center, and ECDI in efforts to support founders of color and build up Cleveland’s Black and
Cara Perez
In her role as Manager of Advancement Operations, Cara is responsible for facilitating and coordinating internal teams, resources, and systems to support the planning, organizing, and execution of JumpStart’s fundraising strategy. She supports the Advancement Department to continuously improve business systems, processes, and operations of core support functions to advance the mission of the organization.
Christopher Smith
Christopher Smith serves as the senior onboarding resource for applicants seeking services and/or investment from JumpStart and its network of partners. His role involves engaging with early-stage and small business clients, identifying their service needs, providing value-added feedback, maintaining continued engagement with clients and partners to track continued progress made and making referrals within JumpStart,
Dan Brown
As an EIR for Stark County, Dan Brown works to support the economic development and entrepreneurial ecosystem in and around the greater Canton region. Working with tech startups, would-be entrepreneurs and existing small businesses, Dan aims to provide connections, mentorship and access to capital that catalyzes communities. Dan specializes in social and climate entrepreneurship and
Dana Allender
As an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Dana Allender provides one-to-one advisory assistance to high potential tech companies to help them realize their potential while taking a collaborative approach with all the resources in the network. Through a revenue-centric approach, Dana leverages past experience to help companies in Northeast Ohio answer questions such as “what’s the problem being solved,”
Danielle Morris
Danielle (Dani) Morris oversees revenue and compliance functions for JumpStart’s venture funds and manages the organization’s internal control procedures for grant award funds and reporting (~$15M annually). She has extensive nonprofit financial expertise, ranging from large ERP systems to smaller customized homegrown systems, user guide design and training, leadership and managerial functions. Her responsibilities at
Devin Bates
In his role as Learning Centers, Outreach and Curriculum Manager, Verizon Learning Centers, Devin is responsible for internal educational offerings, community engagement and entrepreneurial education. He leads program activities, assessment, data collection, testing and communication with all program participants and site managers. He provides instruction and outreach support in this community initiative focused on building