CLEVELAND –Mayor Frank G. Jackson administered the oath of office to five Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s (CMSD) Board of Education members; Louise Dempsey; Denise W. Link Shaletha Mitchell; Stephanie Morales; and the newest board member, Justin L. Monday. The following CMSD Board members were appointed to serve full terms that will expire on June 30, 2019. Mayor Jackson swore in all Board Members at Cleveland City Hall in the Mayor’s Red Room. Their experiences and achievements are listed below:

Louise P. Dempsey was sworn in as a Board Member of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD).  Ms. Dempsey will be serving her fifth term as a Board Member of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to which she has been appointed by three successive mayors since 1998. She was first appointed in 1998; reappointed in 2003; reappointed in 2007; and reappointed in 2011. In addition, she was also appointed Board Vice Chair in 2009; and reappointed Board Vice Chair in 2011. She will be reappointed to her fifth term, which will expire on June 30, 2019. Ms. Dempsey is also the Senior Fellow for Education Policy and a retired Assistant Dean of Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.  As an attorney, Ms. Dempsey serves on the Board of Trustees of The Cleveland School of Science and Medicine and the Board of Directors of the Cleveland Transformation Alliance, a public-private partnership dedicated to growing a portfolio of high-performing district and charter schools in Cleveland, Ohio. She is an Emerita Trustee of Laurel School, her alma mater. Ms. Dempsey is a past member of the American Bar Association’s Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Educational Pipeline. She is active with the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association’s nationally recognized 3Rs Program, where over 500 members teach Constitutional Law to students in the Cleveland Metropolitan School. She earned a bachelor’s degree from McGill University in Montreal and her Juris Doctorate from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Ms. Dempsey also holds a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Bioethics from Cleveland State University. She lives in Bratenahl and is the proud mother of a Collinwood High School.

Denise W. Link was sworn in as a Board Member of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD). Ms. Link will be serving her third term as a Board Member of CMSD. Ms. Link was appointed to the Board of Education in 2007 and named as Board Chair in 2009. She was reappointed in 2011 and reappointed as Board Chair in 2011. Ms. Link was reappointed to serve her third term in 2015, which will expire on June 30, 2019. Ms. Link has worked at PNC Bank for 29 years and serves as Vice President in Retail Network Management. Before joining the Board of Education, she served on the District’s Bond Accountability Commission. Ms. Link holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Psychology from the University of Michigan and a Master of Business Administration (M.B.A) from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management.  In addition to her service as a third-term CMSD Board Member, she volunteers at District’s preschools as part of PNC’s Grow Up Great program, designed to help prepare underserved preschool children for success in school and life. Each year at its fall conference, the Council of the Great City Schools bestows the Green Award upon a Superintendent or Board of Education member in recognition of exceptional contributions to urban schools and students. Because of Ms. Link’s commitment to urban education, she won the 2013 Richard R. Greene Award. Link lives in Ohio City with her husband and children.

Shaletha Mitchell was sworn in as a Board Member of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD). She will be serving in her second term as a Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) Board Member. She was appointed in 2011 to serve her first term. She will be reappointed to her second term in 2015, which will expire on June 30, 2019. Ms. Mitchell, an east side resident, for approximately 25 years, has been an advocate for youth development and education. She is pursuing her Doctorate Degree at Kent State University in the College of Education. Mitchell earned a Master’s Degree from Cleveland State University in Exercise Physiology and Sports Management and a Bachelor’s Degree from The Ohio State University in Psychology. Grounded in education, Ms. Mitchell has worked at Cuyahoga Community College, Case Western Reserve University and The Ohio State University in various academic capacities.  Ms. Mitchell is the President of the Board of Directors of the Ashbury Senior Computer Community Center, is an accomplished grants writer, and as an educational consultant, she provides digital literacy training in the community. Ms. Mitchell’s interests are multifaceted and she holds various certifications, including, group fitness instructor, personal fitness trainer, lifestyle coach, state nurse’s assistant, and event planner. She is an avid sports enthusiast and enjoys running with her Black Labrador Retriever, Knightro.

Stephanie Morales was sworn in as a Board Member of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD). She will be serving in her second term as a CMSD Board Member. She was appointed in 2013 to serve her first term. She will be reappointed to her second term in 2015, which will expire on June 30, 2019. Mrs. Morales currently serves as an Operations Manager at Nationwide Insurance where she is responsible for leading the Nonstandard Servicing Center in Highland Hills. Prior to this role, Mrs. Morales served as a Human Resources (HR) Business Partner where she provided operational, consultative and strategic HR support to executive leadership and over 600 associates in two field locations in Northeast Ohio. Mrs. Morales is very active in the community. She is a former board member of the Hispanic UMADAOP, May Dugan Multi-Service Center, L.A.T.I.N.A. Inc. and NSHMBA -Cleveland Chapter. A proud product of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Mrs. Morales and her husband are graduates of John Marshall High School.  She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Leadership and Management from Regent University and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Maxine   Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University.

For her dedication to the community, she has been featured as a “Rising Star” in Hispanic MBA Magazine, honored with Crain’s Cleveland Business “Twenty in their 20’s” Award and was inducted into Kaleidoscope Magazine’s Cuarenta/Cuarenta Club. She currently resides in the West Park neighborhood with her husband, three daughters, who are current CMSD scholars at Bard Early College and Garfield Elementary schools and their Golden Retriever, Tate.

Justin L. Monday was sworn in as a new Board Member of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD). Monday will be serving in his first term as the newest Cleveland Metropolitan School District Board Member.  He will be serving his first term in 2015, which will expire on June 30, 2019. Monday is an insurance defense attorney at the Cleveland law firm Gallagher Sharp practicing in the areas of general litigation, mass tort, transportation, and workers’ compensation, since 2011.  He also serves as a volunteer magistrate with the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Diversion Program. Monday is a 2004 graduate of Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. He obtained his law degree from the Cleveland Marshall College of Law in 2011. Monday and his wife, Chaundra, are the parents of two children.

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