Executive Director, Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship

Associate Vice President, Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship

Professor, Department of Design & Innovation, Weatherhead School of Management

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Michael Goldberg is the inaugural Executive Director and Associate Vice President of the Veale Institute for Entrepreneurship at Case Western Reserve University. He is also a Professor of Design and Innovation at the Weatherhead School of Management where he teaches courses on entrepreneurship and early stage finance.

Goldberg created a massive open online course (MOOC) called Beyond Silicon Valley: Growing Entrepreneurship in Transitioning Economies, which has attracted over 175,000 students from 190 countries with subtitles in 16 languages (most on Coursera platform). Inc.com named Beyond Silicon Valley one of the top online classes that "will make you smarter and more interesting." Beyond Silicon Valley was also named by the AACSB as one of its 25 winners of its Entrepreneurship Spotlight Challenge (2017) and Innovations That Inspire (2020). Goldberg spoke about the impact of his MOOC at TEDxHeraklion in Crete (February 2015) and TEDxFulbright in Santa Monica (September 2015). He is also the author of Beyond Silicon Valley: How One Online Course Helped Support Global Entrepreneurs.

Goldberg co-founded the Bridge Investment Fund, a venture capital fund focused on investing in Israeli medical device companies that have synergies with the leading health care industries and institutions in Cleveland.

Goldberg was the Director of International Business Development for America Online, responsible for structuring and negotiating international partnerships in Asia, including AOL’s joint venture with Lenovo to develop interactive services for the China market. Goldberg spent several years in South Africa working for the National Democratic Institute, designing and implementing voter education programs for South Africa’s historic first democratic election in 1994. Goldberg also worked for Microsoft and the International Management Group (IMG).

Goldberg has deep experience teaching entrepreneurship in international markets. He was awarded Fulbright fellowships to teach entrepreneurship at the National Economics University in Hanoi, Vietnam (2012), the Polytechnic in Windhoek, Namibia (2015), with the Asociación Canaria de Startups, Empresas de Base Tecnológica e Inversores Ángeles (Emerge) in the Canary Islands, Spain (2018), with the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) in the Azores Islands, Portugal (2022) and the National University of Management in Phnom Penh, Cambodia (2024). Goldberg has also been a visiting professor teaching courses on entrepreneurial management and finance at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey and the ALBA Graduate School of Business in Athens, Greece. He has conducted seminars on behalf of the US Department of State on entrepreneurship in Argentina, Austria, Botswana, Cambodia, Chile, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Kosovo, Laos, Macedonia, Madagascar, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, the Netherlands, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Goldberg is active in the entrepreneurship community in Cleveland, serving as a mentor to entrepreneurs through Jumpstart and Plug and Play. He has appeared as a frequent guest panelist on MSNBC’s “Your Business” and written on international entrepreneurship for Forbes, CNBC, Entrepreneur.com and The Huffington Post.

Goldberg earned a BA from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, MA in International Relations from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University and MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Education:

Master of Arts, Johns Hopkins University, 1999

Master of Business Administration, University of Pennsylvania, 1998

Bachelor of Arts, Princeton University, 1992

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Sonja O'Malley has over 20 years of experience at the intersection of technology and healthcare and is an advocate for inventors and entrepreneurs.  Sonja serves as Senior Director for the innovation and commercialization arm of Cleveland Clinic.  Before joining Cleveland Clinic, Sonja was responsible for managing the global life sciences client portfolio at a subsidiary of Wolters Kluwer.  Sonja's work has spanned clinical laboratory medicine as an MT (ASCP), consulting in Accenture's health care practice, directing the process improvement practice within a health insurance organization, and building multiple startups as an early employee. Sonja is a certified PMP from the Project Management Institute. She has a BS in medical technology from Miami University and an MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University.

Rosalyn (“Roz”) A. Ciulla is a community and economic development finance professional with 30+ years of experience in small business and commercial real estate lending, mezzanine financing, and equity investing. She effectively structures complex community development transactions that meet client’s needs while mitigating risks and ensuring economic viability.

Formerly, Ms. Ciulla was the Director, Finance for Evergreen Cooperative Corporation (ECC). Prior to Evergreen, Ms. Ciulla was a Senior Vice President and Manager of Key Community Development Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of KeyBank National Association. She initiated investment and lending activities on a national basis in businesses and projects that promoted community welfare by providing affordable housing, creating jobs, and stimulating reinvestment in low-to-moderate-income communities. She managed a staff of eleven, an equity portfolio of nearly $1.3 billion and a loan portfolio of nearly $700 million.

Ms. Ciulla holds an MBA from Lake Erie College, Painesville, Ohio and a B.A. in Business Administration and Accounting with a minor in Finance from Notre Dame College of Ohio in South Euclid, Ohio.

Ann Conn serves as President and Chief Executive Officer for the McGregor Foundation with more than 20 years of experience working in the Senior Living Industry. She provides leadership to McGregor whose mission is to serve seniors through both direct service provision and philanthropic support.  McGregor provides rehabilitation, nursing, housing, and hospice services in conventional settings as well as working to keep seniors as independent as possible in the community through its Program for All-inclusive Care for the Elderly.

Ann received her BS in Business Administration from Youngstown State University and her executive MBA from Case Western University in Cleveland, Ohio.  For the first five years of her career, she worked in public accounting performing audit, tax and business valuation engagements.  In 2000, she joined Asbury Heights, a continuing care retirement community located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  In an effort to relocate to Ohio, she joined a family owned-chain of nursing facilities located in Ohio and Pennsylvania where she worked until joining McGregor. Ann currently serves on the board directors for the Leading Age Ohio and Evergreen Cooperative Board.

Ann lives in Chardon with her husband, Paul and two children – Mason and Madison.  When not working, Ann and her family enjoy supporting local sports teams, golfing, attending local theater and visiting with family who still live in Northeast Ohio.

Mr. Downey is a healthcare expert with a passion for helping the industry treat and serve patients better.  His experience includes organizations across the healthcare spectrum, including medical device, services, GPOs and health systems.  He is a recognized supply chain expert, an in-demand speaker and well published author on the subject.At Cleveland Clinic, Mr. Downey serves as the Chief Supply Chain & Support Services Officer, where he leads a multi-disciplinary team that spans sourcing, materials management, technology/P2P, analytics and support services, including food services, linen and laundry, patient transport, Cleveland Clinic’s Red Coat program and service express (call center).  He also leads the Excelerate GPO, a Cleveland Clinic joint venture with Vizient and OhioHealth, as the CEO.

Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic, Mr. Downey led the Supply Chain Operations business for Vizient, which included operating multiple health system supply chains, setting national best practices and leading supply chain technologies.  Mr. Downey joined Vizient from GEODIS, an international supply chain transport and logistics firm, operating in 67 countries where he served as vice president of both the consumer electronics and healthcare verticals.  Prior to this position, he led commercial supply chain teams at Integra Life Sciences and Scott Medical Products.

Mr. Downey graduated from Lehigh University with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in management of technology.  He serves as co-chair of the Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation and board member of Friends Health Connection.  He and his twin boys reside in Cleveland, Ohio.

Percival I. Kane, Jr., MHA, was named Chief Operating Officer of University Hospitals (UH) Ahuja Medical Center and began his new appointment January, 2022.

Mr. Kane is responsible for improving the value of UH Ahuja Medical Center’s services to the community, including enhancing the hospital’s growth and market share, continually improving clinical quality, safety, and patient experience, and furthering integration initiatives within the UH system.

Mr. Kane recently led a $236.1 million Phase 2 expansion project, which officially opened in June of 2023. The expansion has brought new and improved services and hundreds of jobs to the community, including labor and delivery services, a new neonatal intensive care unit, the largest sports rehab complex in Northeast Ohio, a comprehensive breast health center, a new ambulatory surgical center, an expanded emergency department and more.

Percival comes to us from Cleveland Clinic Marymount Hospital, where he served as Chief Operating Officer. Marymount is comprised of a 269-bed acute care regional hospital, an ambulatory surgery center and is the only Catholic Hospital within the health system. In his tenure, he provided executive leadership contributing to growth in admissions, surgical volume, emergency department visits and OR optimization. He also helped the team achieve favorable engagement scores in the midst of the pandemic.

Prior to his work in health care executive roles in Cleveland, Percival served as the Chief Ambulatory Officer and Senior Vice President of the Physician Network at North Oaks Health System in Louisiana. He earned his Master of Health Administration from Saint Louis University School of Public Health, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Public Health Administration from Dillard University in New Orleans.

Percival is actively involved in the community and professional organizations. He is a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE), the National Association of Health Service Executives (NAHSE), the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), President of University Settlement Board of Directors and Board Chairman of the Cleveland Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.

Percival received his Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health Administration from Dillard University in New Orleans, LA, a Master’s of Health Administration degree from Saint Louis University in St. Louis, MO and is beginning his pursuit of Doctorate in Education in Healthcare Leadership at LSU via the Shreveport campus. Lastly, he also holds a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Certification.

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Andrea Kanter Grodin, JD, is the Executive Director of Operations at Cleveland Clinic.  Reporting to the Chief of Operations, she has executive oversight for Buildings + Design, Clinical Engineering, International Operations, Marketing and Communications, Supply Chain & Patient Support Services, Philanthropy, Protective Services and Hotels.   She leads initiatives related to strategy, policy, system integration and change for the health system, as well as collaborates with other local anchor institutions to develop inclusive economic development strategies that leverage resources to benefit our local communities.   She serves on numerous cross-functional teams across the enterprise.

She started her career at Cleveland Clinic as the Administrator of the Beachwood Family Health Center.  She later held several administrative positions of increasing responsibility including executive leadership in the Medicine Institute, Regional Hospital Administration, and as Chief Operating Officer of South Pointe Hospital.  Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic, Andi was the VP of Administration and Planning for Montefiore, a not-for-profit health-care organization for seniors, and before that, practiced municipal law for 10 years. She currently serves on the boards of trustees of Evergreen Cooperatives (Vice Chair) and Jewish Community Housing.  She is a Life Trustee and former Board Chair of Milestones Autism Resources.

Andi graduated summa cum laude from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Arts in economics. She has a Juris Doctor degree from Boston University School of Law.

Kirk Neiswander is President of The Entrepreneurs EDGE, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization which he founded in 2005. EDGE fosters entrepreneurship, innovation and economic development in Northeast Ohio and focuses on growing the value of existing mid-market companies that sell some of their goods and services outside the NE Ohio region. The organization is market driven and is self-funded. Kirk was an officer of Enterprise Development, Inc., and created the Entrepreneurial programs at the Weatherhead School of Management in 1983. Over a 22-year career at Case Western Reserve University, he created many new courses, conferences, retreats, breakfast series, recognition events, networking events and specialized services for entrepreneurs and mid-market companies.

Kirk serves as an advisor to a number of smaller growth companies, and has developed a substantial level of expertise in Creativity/Innovation, entrepreneurship, economic development, management strategy and planning, as well as managing growth. He serves on the Advisory Board for the Evergreen Cooperative, a program created by the Cleveland Foundation to establish inner city businesses to employ inner city residents; was the Founding Chairman of E City and still serves on the board of the organization it merged with Youth Opportunities Unlimited – (YOU); and is on the Board of the McGregor Foundation. He has an MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University in General Management, and a BA from Denison University in Mathematics/Economics.

Julie manages the Advancement Division which is responsible for all fundraising and includes alumni relations and communications. As Executive Director for the CSU Foundation, she manages a 35-person Board of Directors which includes multiple committees and an endowment of ~$120 million for CSU.

Previously, Julie was the Vice President of Government and Foundation Relations at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). She secured funding from local and national foundations, and managed CWRU activities with federal, state, and local elected officials. She also oversaw community relations.Prior to joining CWRU, Julie worked at the Cleveland Clinic and Battelle Memorial Institute.

Julie earned her Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Chemistry from University of Rochester, her Bachelor’s in Chemistry from Rochester Institute of Technology, and two Associate degrees from Niagara County Community College.

Nicole Rosenbaum joined the Cleveland Foundation in December2022 as a Program Officer for Workforce Development & Talent Cultivation. In her current role, Nicole is responsible for addressing talent attraction and retention challenges and opportunities in the Greater Cleveland area to support equitable economic growth.

Prior to joining the foundation, Nicole managed a competitive grant through the Department of Labor. In that capacity, Nicole engaged local employer partners and nontraditional sources of talent to design and implement pre-apprenticeship/apprenticeship models of education and on-the-job-training to increase employment, academics, and retention deliverables in Cuyahoga County.

Nicole started her professional career as a second-grade teacher in the Cleveland community. Nicole currently holds a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Urban Studies from the University of Pittsburgh with a certification in women and gender studies.

Jon E. Utech is the Senior Director of the Office for a Healthy Environment at Cleveland Clinic, where he develops sustainability strategies to emphasis the triple bottom line. Jon directs the Clinic's sustainability program covering energy demand reduction, carbon neutrality, climate resilience, green building, recycling, sustainable food, greening supply chain, tree planting, engagement and reporting.  Jon leads the organization’s climate action which includes policy engagement, climate resilience, energy efficiency and renewable energy.  Jon is a carbon accountant and has calculated and published Cleveland Clinic’s carbon footprint since 2014.  Jon serves on the Healthcare without Harm Climate Council, Healthcare Sector Steering committee for the Better Climate Challenge, National Academy of Medicine Climate Collaborative Working Group, and Evergreen Cooperatives.  Jon’s team works to engage Cleveland Clinic caregivers and the community in this effort to support the overall goal of improving environmental health and human health.  Jon has also led Cleveland Clinic’s ESG reporting since 2013 reporting annually with a hybrid UN Global Compact/GRI report.

Jon earned an MBA and MPOD from Case Western Reserve University and a BA in History from Dartmouth College.

Angela Wilcoxson joined CNB Bank, as Executive Vice President, Commercial Banking in August 2020.  She was promoted to Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Banking Officer on January 1, 2022.  In this role, she is responsible for guiding the commercial teams in each region, covering all aspects of commercial banking from strategy to loan and deposits.  In addition, Angela was a member of the steering committee that created, CNB’s sixth bank division, Impressia Bank.  Impressia Bank is focused on women in business.  Angela has worked in the banking industry for 30 years and held leadership position in Portfolio Monitoring and Business Banking.  Prior to joining CNB, she worked for KeyBank for 23 years.  In her last role at KeyBank she served as Senior Vice President/Business Banking Sales Leader for Northeast Ohio.  Angela also served in various relationship and portfolio management and underwriting roles in Middle Market, Healthcare Finance and National Commercial Banking groups.  She spent 18 months at Huntington National Bank in portfolio and relationship management roles with areas of focus including Commercial Banking, Non-profit and Healthcare.  Prior to KeyBank, Angela spent four years with Bank One, Cleveland (now known as JP Morgan Chase) in Commercial Banking portfolio management and underwriting positions.

A native of Oakwood Village, OH, Angela holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Kent State University and a Master of Arts in Applied Biblical Studies from Moody Bible Institute.  She was named to Kaleidoscope Magazine’s 40 under 40 list in 2010.  Angela was featured in the 2012, 2013 and 2018 issues of Who’s Who in Black Cleveland.  She is a recipient of the 2013 YWCA Women of Professional Excellence Award.  She is also a graduate of Cleveland Bridge Builders in 2015.

Angela currently serves on the boards of Evergreen Cooperatives and The McGregor Foundation.  In addition, she is board President for Evergreen Business Services and Evergreen Cooperative Development Fund.  She has held a previous board seat and served as Secretary for Cleveland Kids in Need.

Angela lives in Twinsburg with her husband of 20 years.  They have four young adult children.