Columbus, Ohio – Governor Ted Strickland today announced the members of the Ohio Anti-Poverty Task Force, which was established through an executive order on May 28 to develop recommendations aimed at reducing the 3.4 million Ohioans living at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
The 30 members of the Ohio Anti-Poverty Task Force represent state agencies, faith-based and non-profit organizations, Ohioans living at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, business and labor leaders, and anti-poverty stakeholders from across the state. The members are listed below.
An additional nearly 250 individuals from 40 towns and cities across the state will participate in five work groups – interagency coordination, benchmarks and measures, self-sufficiency pathways, public-private collaboration, and community engagement – which will meet for the first time in July. The task force will review and approve the work groups’ recommendations before submitting to the Governor.
“The members of the task force and work groups are uniquely qualified to find the kind of common-sense solutions we need to address poverty in Ohio,” Strickland said. “Not only will their recommendations help us find ways to reduce the number of Ohioans in poverty, but they will help these Ohioans lead lives of self-sufficiency and individual prosperity. And Ohio can only get stronger as a result. ”
The initial meeting of the task force will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 9, in the Lazarus Building, Room 621 (A and B), 141 S. High Street, in Columbus.
The Ohio Anti-Poverty Task Force will focus on providing practical and pragmatic short- and long-term strategic recommendations on reducing poverty in Ohio. On September 10, 2008, the task force will deliver its short-term recommendations, which will include a list of immediate policy changes or strategic adjustments in spending for the administration to explore.
The long-term recommendations will be delivered to the Governor on or before April 30, 2009, and include a list of suggested strategies for the state as it develops multi-year initiatives on reducing poverty.
The task force members and the organizations they represent are as follows:
Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Director Greg Landsman (task force chair)
The Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks
Matt Habash, executive director of the Mid-Ohio Foodbank
Ohio Family and Children First
Allison DeHart, executive director of Partners in Hope
Job and Family Services Directors’ Association
Joe Gauntner, the director of Department of Employment and Family Services in Cuyahoga County
Ohio Urban Resources System
Rodney Reasonover, president of the Ohio Urban Resources System
Coalition on Housing and Homelessness in Ohio
Joyce MacAlpine, manager of housing and homelessness solutions at the Montgomery County office of Family and Children First
Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development
Roger McCauley, executive director
Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies
Phil Cole, executive director
Ohio United Way
Bill Kitson, president and CEO of the United Way of Greater Toledo
Individuals living at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level
Pauline Edwards
Cassandra Lovejoy
Faith and community non-profit leaders
Pastor Gregory Chandler, president and CEO of Whole Again International
Pastor Michael Reeves, pastor at Corinthian Missionary Baptist Church
Business community representatives
Linda Martens, government relations and public affairs at Pfizer, Inc, in Ohio
Margot J. Copeland, executive vice president and director of corporate diversity and philanthropy at KeyBank
Labor representatives
Betty Simmons Talley, executive board member for OAPSE/AFSCME Local 4
Jennifer Farmer, communications director for the Ohio Service Employees International Union
Ohio Department of Development
Mark Barbash, chief economic development officer
Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services
Jewel Neely, deputy director for program services
Ohio Department of Education
Louis Staffilino, associate superintendent
Ohio Department of Health
Director Alvin Jackson
Ohio Department of Mental Health
Director Sandy Stephenson
Ohio Department of Job and Family Services
Director Helen Jones-Kelly
Ohio Department of Aging
Marc Molea, chief of the Older Americans Act Program Division
Ohio Office of Budget and Management
David Ellis, assistant director
Ohio Department of Taxation
Commissioner Richard Levin
Ohio Board of Regents
Chancellor Eric Fingerhut
Ohio Office of the Treasurer
Treasurer Richard Cordray
Ohio Secretary of State’s Office
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner
Ohio Benefit Bank
Ralph Gildehaus, director of the Ohio Benefit Bank