CUYAHOGA COUNTY, OH – County Executive Chris Ronayne announced two new senior level additions to his administration today. Sara Parks Jackson will serve as the first director of a new Department of Housing and Community Development and Annie Pease will serve as Senior Advisor for Transportation. These hires fulfil campaign pledges made by Ronayne to elevate Housing and Transportation within his administration.

“Across the county I heard time and time again that thousands of our residents deal with housing and mobility challenges every day,” said County Executive Chris Ronayne. “Sara and Annie will bring both experience and creativity to their new roles to tackle these incredibly important issues.”

Legislation will soon be introduced to create the Department of Housing and Community Development, that will focus on affordable housing development, support for the unhoused, and programs to assist with housing ownership and maintenance. As the department’s first director, Sara Parks Jackson will assemble staff and resources currently spread across several different county departments and focus county efforts on providing safe, affordable housing for all Cuyahoga County residents.

Annie Pease will join the administration to work across departments including Public Works, Development, Housing and Community Development and others. She will advise the County Executive and on transportation policy, services, infrastructure and other critical mobility issues and will build internal capacity in the administration to partner on short and long term transportation projects, initiatives and programs throughout Cuyahoga County.

“We need to ensure that our government is responsive to the needs of our residents,” said Ronayne. “Access to housing and transportation are inherently connected to our well-being and health and are critical for the county’s economic growth. I’m excited to bring in two talented professionals to focus on these incredibly important issues for our community.”

About Sara Parks Jackson

Sara Parks Jackson is the Deputy Director of Housing and Community Development in the Cuyahoga County Department of Development. She has over 30 years of affordable housing experience, with a career that has seen her work in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. before returning home to Cleveland. Sara has a master’s degree in Public Administration and was a member of the CSU Public Officials Leadership Academy, class XVII. She holds the Economic Development Finance Professional Certification through the National Development Council and is a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt. Sara currently serves on the CHN Housing Capital Advisory Board and the Cuyahoga HOME Consortium and is a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

About Annie Pease

Annie Pease is a Project Coordinator in the City of Cleveland's Mayor's Office of Capital Projects. In this role, she works on the implementation side of bikeway, trail and other transformational infrastructure projects. She has had an integral role in the design and implementation of Cleveland's 2022 Complete & Green Streets ordinance as well as in Cleveland’s lakefront initiative, focused on creating a more accessible waterfront. Prior to this role, she was the Director of Transportation at University Circle Inc., a non-profit neighborhood development corporation in Cleveland. Ms. Pease came to Cleveland after completing her master’s degree in City & Regional Planning from Cornell University and three years of community development work with the U.S. Peace Corps in Central Asia.