Jennifer Thomas is leaving the Civic Innovation Lab to direct community-engagement efforts in Akron for the Knight Foundation.
Jennifer Thomas, director of Cleveland's Civic Innovation Lab, is taking a new assignment in Akron. She was photographed in December at the Banyan Tree shop in Tremont, one of her favorite Cleveland places.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The woman who led a Cleveland Foundation-funded effort to invest in unique startup businesses is the new director of Akron-area programs for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Jennifer Thomas is leaving the Civic Innovation Lab to direct community-engagement efforts in Akron for the Knight Foundation.
Thomas led the lab since 2003, overseeing about $1.5 million in Cleveland Foundation funding that was invested in companies with community impact, like an indoor mountain-bike park and an alternative fuel station.
"It was a wonderful journey for me to discover so many passionate and dedicated entrepreneurs,'' Thomas said.
Thomas did an "outstanding'' job, said Robert Eckardt, the Cleveland Foundation's senior vice president for programs and evaluations.
The lab invested up to $30,000 in 55 companies. About one-fourth have been successful and another quarter have folded. Others remain in a start-up phase.
Eckardt said the lab is funded through the end of the year. Grants to keep it going will be under review, he said.
For the Knight Foundation, Thomas will look to find and fund efforts to engage "all levels of the community" in transformational programs.