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Distinguished BW graduate Randell McShepard '86 has spent decades investing his time and talents in community service and positive change for Northeast Ohio.
Randell McShepard '86 speaks at BW's May 2022 Commencement.
Accomplished Baldwin Wallace University alumnus Randell McShepard '86 is the new chairperson for the Cleveland Foundation board of directors. McShepard has served as a board member for the city's premier community foundation since 2021 and most recently served as vice chair. His term as chair started on April 1.
In a news release, Lillian Kuri, president and CEO, Cleveland Foundation, which held $2.8 billion in assets at the close of 2022, said she is "thrilled" to welcome McShepard to the board.
"The foundation's board has been a vital partner in carrying out our work to improve the lives of residents in Greater Cleveland," said Kuri. "Randy's longstanding commitment to service in Cleveland is exceptional. He is recognized across the region for his visionary leadership and ability to build coalitions for lasting, positive change."
As vice president of public affairs and chief talent officer for RPM International Inc., McShepard leads external affairs, including governmental affairs, corporate philanthropy, leadership development and executive training.
In the community, McShepard co-founded and chairs PolicyBridge, a regional public policy think tank, and co-founded the Rid-All Green Partnership, an urban farm and environmental education campus in Cleveland's Lower Kinsman neighborhood. He currently serves as a trustee for Destination Cleveland and as a director for Citymark Capital LLC. In 2023, Crain's Cleveland Business named him to its "Power 150" list of influential leaders.
Among his previous civic roles, McShepard chaired the Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Workforce Investment Board and the Sisters of Charity Foundation and served as vice chair of The Fund for Our Economic Future and Business Volunteers Unlimited. He has also been a trustee for The George Gund Foundation, The City Club Forum Foundation and United Way of Greater Cleveland.
"We congratulate Randy for his past exemplary service and for all that he will help the Cleveland Foundation to achieve for greater Cleveland in the future," said BW President-designate Lee Fisher. "From a BW perspective, Randy represents the best of what graduates can achieve when they fulfill that part of the BW mission to educate contributing, compassionate citizens of our world."
Before completing his master's degree in urban studies from Cleveland State University, McShepard earned dual bachelor's degrees in psychology and communications from BW.
He is also a past BW Trustee, earned a 2013 BW Alumni Merit Award (the highest recognition that can be bestowed upon a BW graduate) and was featured as BW's May 2022 Commencement Speaker, where he earned an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
In his speech, he told the graduates, "Your parents and extended family didn't send you to Baldwin Wallace University to be average. Your professors didn't teach and mentor you with hopes that you would someday be an ordinary citizen. Rather, they, and all of us, expect that all of you will be extraordinary in whatever you choose to do."
McShepard continues to walk the walk as he lives up to his own challenge to be an extraordinary BW graduate.
