2018 Triennial Archive

New Members Welcomed to FRONT Board

December 3, 2018General, Press Releases

FRONT International is pleased to welcome three new board members this season: Virginia (Gini) Barbato, Steven D. Standley, and Felton Thomas, Jr.

Virginia (Gini) Barbato is the President of the Eric and Jane Nord Family Fund. She is also currently a trustee of the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Orchestra and Case Western Reserve University. She has served on committees and panels of the Council on Foundations and the Ohio Grantmakers Forum. Past trusteeships have included serving as a member of the board at the Cleveland Opera, Vocational Guidance Services, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland. She is a former member of the Visiting Committees of the Mandel School and the College of Arts and Science of Case Western Reserve University.

Gini is a former Secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Nord Family Foundation in Amherst, Ohio, and former treasurer of the Women’s Council of the Cleveland Museum of Art. She is the Chair of the museum’s Education Advisory Committee.

Gini holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Case Western Reserve University. She and her husband, Randy, have three sons and reside in New York City and Cleveland.

Steven D. Standley is the Chief Administrative Officer at University Hospitals. He has served in senior leadership roles for University Hospitals since July 2000 and was promoted to Chief Administrative Officer in 2009. In this role, he is responsible for master facilities planning, plant operations, biomedical engineering, system-wide sustainability programs, major construction projects, operational effectiveness, supply chain, shared services, marketing and communications, information technology & systems, government affairs, nutrition and environmental services, and real estate for the Health System. Mr. Standley is the senior officer of University Hospitals responsible for community engagement and economic development initiatives and the UH Art Collection.

Prior to joining University Hospitals, Mr. Standley served in several roles for Columbia/HCA, including Vice President of Partnerships for Columbia/HCA hospitals in Canton and Cleveland, Ohio, and Columbia, South Carolina, Vice President of Materials Management for the Florida Group of Columbia/HCA, and Vice President of Materials Management for the Ohio Division. In addition, he has served as a senior consultant of The Hunter Group, a unit of Navigant Consulting, Inc., providing performance improvement plans to organizations, including Mount Sinai – New York University, Henry Ford Health System, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, UCLA Health System, and Catholic Health East.

He maintains many professional and community affiliations and has served as board member of several organizations including University Circle Incorporated, New Bridge-Cleveland Center for Arts & Technology, Medical Center Company, Southwest General Hospital, CSA UHHS, Inc., and the W.O. Walker Center. He serves on the City of Cleveland Mayor’s, and also serves on several community economic development committees including the Greater University Circle Committee, Health Tech Corridor Steering Committee, Opportunity Corridor Coordinating Committee, Evergreen Cooperatives Corporation Board, Team NEO, and the Global Cleveland Committee.

In 2005, Mr. Standley received national recognition from The Gallup Organization for supply chain performance initiative in health care. In 2008, he accepted The Economic Impact Award from The Commission on Economic Inclusion for University Hospitals’ role in negotiating the Project Labor Agreement, which is helping to develop Northeast Ohio’s economy through Vision 2010 construction projects. Other Vision 2010 projects under Mr. Standley have received awards in 2008. The American Architecture Award for 2008 for design was awarded to the new University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Hospital, and the 2008 Modern Healthcare Design Award, the pre-eminent award for healthcare design, has been awarded to the Ahuja Medical Center. Mr. Standley was also awarded the State of Ohio Multicultural Leadership Award for his efforts and leadership on inclusion and diversity with the recently completed Vision 2010 Projects. Mr. Standley received the 2014 Homer C. Wadsworth Award from the Cleveland Foundation recognizing his civic leadership and his “creativity, innovation, ingenuity, risk-taking and good humor”. In 2015, Mr. Standley was the Joseph D. Pigott University Circle Leadership Award honoree for being a civic champion for University Circle and Northeast Ohio.

Mr. Standley is also a professional artist (“Sunday painter”) with many pieces in collections and non-profit organizations across the country. His Studio469 is located in the Tremont Arts District and he is the Co-Founder of Emerge Cleveland which strives to promote and support young artists in Northeast Ohio. Mr. Standley is an avid collector of art form many local and regional artists and has a significant collection in his Tremont Studio.

Felton Thomas, Jr. has served as Executive Director of Cleveland Public Library (CPL) since January, 2009. Since beginning his tenure at CPL, Director Thomas has furthered the mission of CPL to be “The People’s University”, including launching initiatives aimed at addressing community needs in the areas of access to technology, education, and economic development. CPL has maintained its “Star” status and been named a “Top Innovator” by the Urban Libraries Council for its use of technology and data to inform decision making.

Felton’s awards and accomplishments include being named a “Mover and Shaker” by the Library Journal, and acting as a fellow in the Urban Library Council’s Executive Leadership Institute. Nationally, in 2015, Felton was elected as President-Elect of the Public Library Association (PLA), served as President beginning in 2016; and now serves as Past President. Felton is also a member of the Aspen Institute Task Force on Learning and the Internet. He currently serves as Board President of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, and a trustee on the boards of Sisters of Charity Foundation, University Circle Inc., United Black Fund of Greater Cleveland and United Way of Greater Cleveland.

Felton lives in Shaker Heights, Ohio, with his wife and two daughters, is an accomplished musician, and has become a devoted Cleveland sports fan since his arrival on the shores of Lake Erie.

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