Lana Cowell

Lana Cowell Board Secretary National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy.

"Ms. Cowell has spent her entire career in the nonprofit sector. Most recently she served as the executive director of Greater Cleveland Community Shares (GCCS), a fundraising federation of 40 local social justice organizations serving the Greater Cleveland area. Ms. Cowell recently retired from GCCS, where she had served since 1989. Ms. Cowell was also one of GCCS’s founding trustees.  Under Ms. Cowell’s direction, GCCS has had a significant impact on fundraising and the social justice movement in Cleveland, bringing critical funding to organizations committed to social change and inspiring heightened public awareness about social justice issues. Since its inception in 1985, GCCS has raised over $10.5 million to advance social justice in our community, making the organization the second largest social action fund in the United States.

"Prior to serving as GCCS’s executive director, Ms. Cowell was the executive director of the Heights Community Congress, a grassroots fair housing organization serving the Cleveland Heights-University Heights area. Her tenure at the Congress spanned a decade of challenges for integrated communities and equal housing opportunities.  While serving in that capacity, Cleveland Heights was awarded the All-American City award primarily because of the integration programs developed and implemented by the Congress.  The Heights Community Congress vs. Hilltop Realty fair housing case was filed, tried and decided while Ms. Cowell served as director.  This case resulted in a major decision that further bolstered the housing rights of all buyers regardless of race.

"Ms. Cowell currently serves as the Vice President of the National Alliance for Choice in Giving, an organization that serves as a voice for charitable choice in the workplace and provides programs and services that increase the capacity of workplace giving federations and funds. She also serves as a volunteer consultant to Community Shares USA.  She is regularly commissioned to conduct training workshops for nonprofit organizations across the country, recognized as a national expert in the alternative fund and social justice funding movements.

"Ms. Cowell received her Master’s Degree in Developmental Biology from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and her undergraduate degree from Marygrove College in Detroit."