Budish Names Interim Directors for Development and HHS

CLEVELAND - County Executive Armond Budish announced today that formal, national search processes have begun for Director of Health and Human Services, Director of Development, and Chief Talent Officer.

On behalf of Cuyahoga County, the Greater Cleveland Partnership issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for professional search firms. The RFQ and search processes are expected to be funded by a public-private partnership with the Greater Cleveland Partnership and other local grant-making organizations.

“We are committed to building the best and brightest team to serve Cuyahoga County,” said Budish. “Thanks to a significant public-private partnership, we will conduct an inclusive nationwide talent search to find and attract experienced and diverse leaders to Northeast Ohio.”

Cuyahoga County will use these search processes to tap into larger pools of talent for economic development, health and human services, and human resources, and enlist the help of community members to identify final candidates for these important posts.

Lisa Durkin will continue to serve as the Interim Director of Human Resources. Matt Carroll will serve as Interim Director of Health and Human Services, replacing Rick Werner, who resigned to lead the Willoughby-Eastlake Library. Nathan Kelly will serve as Interim Director of Development, replacing Larry Benders, who has resigned to serve as CEO of the Cleveland Sight Center.

Budish described Carroll, Kelly, and Durkin as “experienced and committed administrators who will manage these organizations effectively and maintain this administration’s efforts to eliminate silos in county government and provide quality services to our constituents and to the community.”

Carroll has previous experience in the county human service system, having served in Cuyahoga Health and Nutrition from 1998-2002. He was the Director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health from 2002-2010, and Chief of Staff in the previous County administration.

Kelly is currently the Deputy Chief of Staff for Economic Development and previously was Director of the Department of Planning and Development in the City of Lakewood from 2007-2010.

Durkin has been serving as Interim Director of Human Resources since November 2014, when former Director Elise Hara resigned to pursue other opportunities. Prior to that, Durkin served as Deputy Director of Human Resources.