The City Year Cleveland staff members have collectively devoted dozens of years to youth development and understand the most complex and demanding issues facing our city today. Their passion fuels creative thinking that leads to richer service to Cleveland’s students, schools and neighborhoods.
City Year alumni are designated with an (*) below.
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Phillip M. Robinson, Jr., Executive Director
A native Clevelander, Phillip joins City Year Cleveland as its executive director after serving most recently as a 2010 Cleveland Executive Fellow at the Cleveland Leadership Center. He serves as the site’s primary leader, external champion and internal manger of the organization. Previously, Robinson was a senior account executive with Marcus Thomas, LLC. Prior to moving back to Northeast Ohio, he held positions at Powell Tate | Weber Shandwick in Washington, DC and served as a congressional legislative aide for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. A graduate of Gilmour Academy, Robinson earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from The George Washington University school of Business. He was selected as one of the Top 25 Under 35 Movers and Shakers by Inside Business Magazine and the Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club. Robinson was inducted into the George Washington University Hall of Fame in 2001 for his leadership on campus as president of the Black Student Union and president of the Student Association. Currently, Robinson serves on the boards of Citizens Leadership Academy, the Centers for Dialysis Care, the Cleveland Minority Organ Tissue Transplant Education Program (MOTTEP), the Ohio AmeriCorps Working Group and FutureHeights. He lives with his wife, Elizabeth, in University Heights.
Toi D. Comer, Development Director
Toi, a native Clevelander, has joined City Year Cleveland to lead its fundraising team and efforts to build structures to supportthe site's scaled impact growth plan. With more than 10 years of extensive development experience, Comer comes to City Year with diverse skills in fundraising, community and government relations, strategic planning, management and communications. She most recently served as the development Director for Eliza Bryant Village, a nonprofit that provides services and outreach programs to seniors. Prior to Eliza Bryant, she served as Resourcce Development Manager for the United Way of Greater Cleveland, where she oversaw the Small Business and Healthcare Division team that raised over $15 million for varius programs. Previously, Comer served as the Assistant Area Development Director for the United Negro College Fund of Northeast Ohio, where she helped to raise significant dollars towards scholarships for African-American youth seeking to go to college.
Comer enjoys the fact ther her job is "mission-driven," and that she is able to continue to help leverage relationships in the community to increase investments to City Year Cleveland. She is actively involved in many commmunity activities, including Black Professionals Association Charitable Foundation, Association of Fundraising Professionals, United Way of Greater Cleveland, Shoes and Clothes for Kids and the National Council of Negro Women. Comer holds a Masters of Public Administration degree with a specialty in Management and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Cleveland State University. Her personal philosophy reflects the profound words of Langston Hughes, "Hold fast to your dreams, for without them life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly...As long as I am actively in pursuit of my dreams and hold fast to faith, I know that my life remains full and exciting." Comer enjoys spending time with family and friends. She resides in South Euclid.
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Brianna Schultz, Director of Service and Impact
Brianna serves as the program director at City Year Cleveland. She is primarily responsible for government relations and training and development. Prior to joining City Year, Schultz completed a year of national service as an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer in Service to America) through Michigan Campus Compact. A native of Michigan, Schultz attended Central Michigan University and has most recently earned a Master of Business Administration from Ashland University. In addition to her work at City Year, Schultz is a Cleveland Bridge Builder through the Cleveland Leadership Center. Schultz’s volunteer work includes serving as a foster care volunteer for the Cleveland Animal Protective League, member at-large of the Central Michigan University Volunteer Center alumni board and vice president of membership for the Playhouse Square Toastmasters International club. She currently lives in Lakewood, OH.
Dahlia Cummings, Recruitment Manager
Dahlia currently serves as the recruitment manager for City Year Cleveland. Her primary responsibilities include the interviewing and hiring of the organizations 50+ corps members. Prior to City Year Cleveland, Cummings served as a mortgage professional for JP Morgan Chase Bank where she also operated as a mentor and trainer. Cummings also holds licenses’ in the Optometry and Life, Accident, Variable fields. Cummings has over 20+ years of experience of training, mentoring, business, and customer service skills to City Year. As a native Clevelander, Cummings also volunteers her time to serve as tutor and mentor to young women within the foster care system. She is currently obtaining her Bachelor of Psychology with a Minor in music and currently lives in Cleveland, Ohio.
Mary Fagans, Operations Manager*
Mary currently serves as the operations manager for City Year Cleveland. In this role, she oversees all office operations, provides administrative support to the Executive Director, assists in managing relationships with board members and external stakeholders and plans special events. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati with a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Planning, Fagans chose to do a year of service with City Year Cleveland. In her first year of service she served as a corps member on a Whole School Whole Child team at Collinwood High School. In her second year with City Year she served as a team leader at John F. Kennedy High School’s Freshman Academy and led a team of 8 first year corps members at John F. Kennedy High School engaged in one-on-one and small group tutoring, after-school programs, and community service projects. In her two corps years she has also helped to lead several City Year projects and service days including Camp City Year, Martin Luther King, Jr. Service, CSX Service Day and Opening Day Service. Fagans’s one year of service has grown into a commitment to national service, education and the City of Cleveland. As a City Year alumni and City of Cleveland resident she hopes to continue being a champion for Cleveland and its youth.
Donisha Greene, Senior Program Manager
Donisha currently serves as a senior program manager for City Year Cleveland. In this role, she manages two teams of highly motivated corps members in East Technical High School's 9th Grade Academy and Martin Luther King, Jr. Career Campus. Greene leads the effort to keep students on track and ultimately impacting the matriculation rate. Greene has spent much of her professional career in the non-profit sector working with organizations such as the Greater Cleveland YMCA and the Friendly Inn Settlement House. Also, Greene ran youth programs with F.I.S.H., providing mentorship, enrichment, and employment opportunity to high school students that met the academic requirements. She and her husband reside in Cleveland, where they are raising their two children and bringing true meaning to living and working in the city in which one serves.
Shelley Hunt, Program Manager*
Shelley currently serves as a program manager for City Year Cleveland. In this role she trains, manage, and leads a group of young adults deployed to Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s high school, John F Kennedy, for a year of service of mentoring and tutoring. Toney is primarily responsible for the leadership development of her team, synthesizing complex service impact data and providing effective interventions to help at-risk students get back on track. Toney is a current Case Western Reserve University Treu-Mart Fellowship alumni and has utilizes her knowledge from the program in designing and implementing resiliency- based after school programming for the current and last school years. Previously, Toney worked with youth by volunteering time to facilitate workshops with the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio and the YMCA’s annual diversity camp retreat for youth. Toney volunteers as the cheerleading coach at her church where she has the opportunity to teach and reinforce the meaning of community, team, and work ethic. Toney is engaged to be married in March, and resides in Shaker Heights, where she raises her six -year-old twin daughters.
Jessica Koppen, Program Manager
Jessica joined City Year Cleveland as a program manager in 2010. She manages a team of corps members assigned to tutoring and mentoring service at Glenville High School Ninth Grade Academy. Previously, Koppen served as an assistant director of programs at E CITY, a nonprofit agency dedicated to teaching entrepreneurial and life skills to youth at risk of not graduating. Koppen has significant experience providing programmatic support to nonprofits that serve the community. Previously, she served as an assistant director of programs at E CITY, a nonprofit agency dedicated to teaching entrepreneurial and life skills to youth at risk of not graduating. Prior to her role at E CITY, she spent several years as program coordinator at Cleveland Reads, a nonprofit literacy agency, where she coordinated volunteers and helped deliver literacy tutoring programs for direct service providers in the county. A graduate of Antioch College, Koppen earned her Bachelor’s of Art in Literature and Visual Arts. After college, she dedicated a year of service as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Cleveland. Koppen is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Art Therapy and Counseling at Ursuline College, where she is excited about bringing together her passions for the arts and human services. She recently bought her first home in Cleveland Heights, where she lives with her chocolate lab, Luka.