Profiles

Maddy Ozvath went to Ohio State where she studied strategic communications. After school she moved to German Village, a historic neighborhood in the city of Columbus that is only a mile from downtown and the riverfront but has the vibe of a small town. The houses are all beautiful historic brick homes dating back to the early 1900s, and the streets are all brick-paved. "It really feels like you've been brought back in time," Maddy says. She currently works at the Sycamore in German Village, a newly-opened bar and restaurant that focuses on local, sustainable cuisine. 

Taylor Burciaga grew up in Toledo and attended Bowling Green State University where she earned a Bachelors degree in interpersonal communication and public relations. Growing up Mexican American, her parents strongly emphasized involvement in their community through volunteering and participating in community activities and events. After college, Taylor returned to the Toledo area where she worked in the nonprofit sector. At that point she was appointed to the Toledo City Council, both the youngest female and the youngest Latino to hold a seat on City Council in Toledo's history. Eventually she decided her passion was to focus on doing good things for the community rather than politicking. 

Mercy Montgomery is a John C. Engle Local Government Fellow at the City of Hamilton, Ohio. There she does a little of everything: grant writing, community outreach, economic development. It is an 11 month position designated for young professionals who just graduated with a master's degree that gives them a full, well-rounded experience of working for the city and enables them to figure out which areas they enjoy the most and are the most skilled at. The majority tend to stay on an transition into full time positions. This helps drive young professionals to the area and gets them involved. The fellowship also includes housing and Mercy lives right in downtown Hamilton, just a five-minute walk from her office.

Grace Heffernan is a project manager with NorTech Economic Development Organization, a flexible electronics, water technologies, and advanced energy economic development organization. She graduated with a degree in political science from Hiram College, then came home to the Cleveland area where she grew up to work for an organization called Entrepreneurs for Sustainability in Tremont.

Rickey Ishida is an engineer and designer (and sometime marketer) with MakerGear, LLC. Originally from Bethesda, Maryland, Rickey came to Cleveland for the Venture for America program after studying biological engineering at Cornell. He got interested in working with startups while participating in Venture for America, and ended up at MakerGear after seeing a position posted on the Cornell career site. MakerGear make 3D printers for the hobbyist community.

Sarah Jane Smith has lived in Cincinnati for 11 years. She majored in Strategic Communications at Miami University. She now works as a recruiter at Insight Global.

Jessica Armstrong was born and raised in Dayton. She grew up in the “Crossroads of America”: Vandalia, Ohio. She attended Ohio University where she earned a bachelors in Marketing and Management Information Systems. She moved back to Dayton after living in Washington, DC and was looking for something young and fresh. She is currently working at Standard Register as a Customer Service Manager, a company that has been in Dayton for more than 100 years.

Lauren Wiant grew up on the east side of Cleveland and attended Miami University, where she was an English major with a business and Spanish minor. After school she got into real estate services and property management through a family connection, and is now in charge of marketing, programming and events at Cumberland Development, which oversees projects like the 5^th Street Arcades, two historic arcades in the center of downtown Cleveland that were previously underutilized and underprogrammed. 

Eric DeVries grew up in Indiana and attended the University of Evansville in southern Indiana where he studied marketing and finance. His wife was from Perrysburg, which is what brought him to the area. He now works as a Sales Advisory Consultant for Wells Fargo.

Amanda Jenne grew up in Berea then left for Columbus and attended Ohio State University where she graduated with a degree in psychology. She now lives in Elyria and is currently a behavioral health technician and the Cleveland Clinic, and also is the Program Assistant at Engage! Cleveland, an organization that works to attract and retain young professionals to the Cleveland area.

Barry Irwin is originally from Columbus but moved to the Cleveland suburbs before high school. He attended Kent State for aviation flight technology and management. He stayed in Kent for several years before accepting a position at the Akron Canton Airport as the Operations Supervisor. He now lives in Cuyahoga Falls, and is also the events committee chair for the Young Professionals of Akron.

Lorilyn Shandor was born and raised in Youngstown. She attended Youngstown State University and earned a Bachelor's in Business Administration with concentration in nonprofit business management, then went on to earn her MBA in Marketing from Youngstown also. She is now the Gift Planning and Campaign Director at the OPRS Foundation, in addition to being president of the Mahoning Valley Young Professionals organization.

Courtney Winnen is the Communications Coordinator for the Short North Alliance. She grew up in Cleveland and came to Columbus to attend Ohio State where she majored in strategic communications with a focus in public relations. She stayed in the area after she graduated, got her feet wet in the business world then started working on special events for a restaurant and bar, which got her more experience in public relations and event planning. She took an internship with the Short North Business Association, which was later absorbed by the Short North Alliance when she transferred into her current position.

Andrew Rahrig grew up in Westerville in greater Columbus and attended Ohio Northern University for civil engineering. He now works as a real estate representative for Marathon Petroleum in Findlay. He is also a member of the Findlay Young Professionals, which he recommends as a great way to get young people connected to their community, offering both social and business networking opportunities.

Jennifer Rieman was born in Cleveland but moved to Columbus when she was young. She attended the Miami University of Ohio and moved to Dublin after she graduated. She is now the Assistant Manager of Public Relations at the Ohio Society of CPAs.