The Strive Partnership Staff

Who We Are:

Greg Landsman Executive Director

Landsman currently serves as the Executive Director of The Strive Partnership, a unique education consortium of providers and funders working together to improve academic achievement in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Before joining Strive Partnership, Landsman was appointed Director of the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives by Governor Ted Strickland in October of 2007.  Created in 2003 by the Ohio General Assembly, the office works to strengthen the capacity of faith-based and community-based organizations, encourage effective partnerships among and between public agencies and faith-based and community organizations, and measure the impact of these partnerships in an effort to reduce poverty in Ohio.  As Director, Landsman oversaw an annual grant-making budget of $7 million, helped to launch summer food and learning programs throughout the state, and established the Ohio Social Entrepreneurship Initiative.

Strickland also appointed Landsman Chair of the Ohio Anti-Poverty Task Force in May of 2008.  The Task Force included participation by over 2,000 Ohioans and produced a multi-year strategic plan for reducing poverty in Ohio.  It was through this work that Landsman developed an even deeper appreciation for the role education plays in reducing poverty in Ohio. 

Geoff Zimmerman Director of Continuous Improvement

Geoff Zimmerman is Director of Continuous Improvement for The Strive Partnership at KnowledgeWorks.  In this capacity, he manages the data and information initiatives of the partnership, including promoting the use of community level data and indicators, promoting collaborative data management systems, and promoting continuous improvement and collaboration for collective impact.

Geoff has worked in the nonprofit sector and in education throughout his career. His experience includes research and analysis, data and information systems and design, outcomes development, continuous improvement, and strategic planning. He previously worked at the University of Cincinnati for Tech Prep, a career pathways consortium, and in the community building division of the United Way of Greater St. Louis.  Geoff has a bachelor's of science in business administration from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and a master's in business administration from the University of Cincinnati.

Emily Lewis Assistant Director

Emily currently serves as the Assistant Director for The Strive Partnership, a unique education consortium of providers and funders working together to improve academic achievement in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.  In this role, she helps manage operations, including the partnership’s budget, strategic plan, and internal staff work plan, and stakeholder relations.  Lewis also manages or supports a number of high priority projects, such as the coordinated volunteer tutor recruitment campaign called Be the Change.  Lewis has B.A. in English Literature from Denison University and a Master's in Community Planning from the University of Cincinnati.

Nia Williams Communications & Community Engagement Coordinator 

Nia manages communications for Strive, representing the voice of the partnership via social media outlets, ultimately sharing the message of supporting every child, every step of the way, from cradle to career. In addition to communications, Nia also leads the Race and Equity Task Force and is involved with Strive's community will efforts. Before coming to Strive, Nia worked with the Ohio Justive and Policy Center and the KnowledgeWorks National Advocacy and Partnerships Team. Outside of work, Nia serves as the Varsity Track & Field coach for Clark Montessori High School. Nia is a Michigan native who landed in Cincinnati by way of Xavier University where she recieved a B.A. in History.

William Thomas Implementation Coordinator

William Thomas is the Learning Partner Dashboard Implementation Coordinator for The Strive Partnership.  In this role, Thomas leads the implementation of the Learning Partner Dashboard (LPD) in Cincinnati Public Schools and Covington Independent Public Schools.  The LPD brings together academic and non-academic support data into one system so that both the school district and its partners can better serve their students.  

Thomas also currently serves as vice chair on the board of directors for Bloom Africa.  Before joining the Strive Partnership, he spent some time in the private sector world as an account analyst.  Additional experience includes field organizing for President Obama’s presidential campaign and an associateship for the White House.  Thomas has a bachelor’s of art in business management from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.

Damian Hoskins Director of Collaborative Action

 As the Director of Collaborative Action for the Strive Partnership, Damian Hoskin leads several cross-sector collaboratives that support the key outcome indicators which make up the local "Cradle to Career" infrastructure. Prior to his work with the Strive Partnership, Hoskins worked as the Senior Manager of Learning Services for the WCET, Cincinnati’s Public Broadcasting station.  Damian is also a thirteen year teaching veteran and serves on the board of the YMCA Black & Latino Achievers.

Damian holds a B.A in English Education from Central State University and an MA in Art Education from the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

Sherri Boone Team Coordinator

As the Team Coordinator, Sherri is responsible for supporting both the Executive Director and the entire team.  She provides general administrative support including calendar management, setting up complex meetings, coordinating travel arrangements, and completing monthly expense reports.

Before joining The Strive Partnership, Sherri worked in Real Estate and was a Client Services Assistant at CB Richard Ellis. In this role, Sherri supported up to eight brokers in an administrative capacity including letter generation, maintaining accurate and up-to-date listing sheets, updating of property websites and creation of property web pages. Prior to this, she was a Property Manager with Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, managing a portfolio of nine properties. In this role, she was responsible for the day-to-day operation of the properties, tenant relations, contract negotiations, accounts payable and receivable, monthly and quarterly re-projections and yearly budgets for each property. 

Melissa McCoy Project Manager

As Project Manager, McCoy focuses on several aspects of the Partnership's work including; reinvigorating the Partnership's social and emotional research and strategies, supporting our continuous improvement training, as well as assisting the Partnership’s ongoing efforts in collaborative action. McCoy received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Tennessee, and a J.D. from the NKU Chase College of Law.

Before joining the partnership, McCoy practiced law in the private sector and sought out opportunities to serve the non-profit community in her free time.  Ultimately, she decided to make the transition to the non-profit world, and build a career out of impacting the community and its education system on a broader scale. 

Khalilah Slater Harrington Staff Member Emeritus