Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati’s Newest Board Members Have Diversity of Experience & Knowledge
CINCINNATI— On Monday, February 11, 2008 the Board of Trustees of the Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati voted to add four new members. The new board members are as follows (in alpha order): Melinda K. Brown, Michael Lake, former U.S. Congressman Rob Portman, and Lawrence Williams.
Melinda Brown currently is the Executive Director of Stayin’ Alive in Franklin County, IN, where she was an active volunteer for twelve years before being hired as Executive Director. She has been instrumental in creating the first ever county youth council and building partnerships with stakeholders. Melinda is excited to bring her degree from Indiana University and twelve years of experience in the criminal justice system to the field of prevention and community collaboration.
Michael Lake is a Senior Manager in the Cincinnati Multistate Tax Practice at Deloitte Tax LLP. He has 13 years of multi-state tax experience and spent four years working on the National Multistate Team where he focused on the income tax consequences of transactions and other due diligence related matters. Michael volunteers on a regular basis through his church and other local organizations. He is excited to work with the Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati on their goal of creating purposely drug-free communities.
The Coalition owes its very founding to the former U.S. Congressman, Rob Portman. We are very pleased to announce that he has rejoined the Board which he served as Chairman from 1996 to 2003, and as founding chair until he joined the Cabinet in 2005. After two decades of dedicated public service and commuting for the past 14 years between his home in Cincinnati and Washington, DC, Rob Portman left OMB in August 2007 to be in Ohio with his family full time. Mr. Portman is currently Of Counsel with the law firm of Squire, Sanders and Dempsey LLP, where he is involved with international trade, transactions and other areas of law. He is also on the board of The Nature Conservancy and involved in several community activities. Earlier this month Rob received the prestigious National Leadership award from the CADCA.
Lawrence (Larry) Williams is a Vice President with Talbert House, accountable for the agency’s Human Resources and Auxiliary Services departments; and court/jail treatment and prevention services. He is a life-long resident of Cincinnati with a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati. He is licensed by the State of Ohio in social work, chemical dependency counseling at the independent level and certified as a prevention specialist.
The Coalition for a Drug-Free Greater Cincinnati welcomes these new board members and looks forward to the results that their diverse areas of expertise will bring to accomplishing the Coalition’s mission.
