A well-known community builder is moving her talents to a local business family.
After a little more than two years as the executive director of GreenLight Fund Cincinnati, Clare Blankemeyer will depart this month.
“My next chapter includes joining the philanthropy team at the private family office of a local business family, allowing me to remain in Greater Cincinnati with a continued commitment to positively impacting communities,” Blankemeyer said in an announcement Jan. 23 revealing the news.
Blankemeyer will become director of philanthropy at Miramar Services in Fort Wright, Ky. One of the country’s largest single-family offices, Miramar works with three generations of descendants of the media pioneer Scripps family.
Founded in 2004, GreenLight Fund is a national Boston-based nonprofit with a local focus that partners with communities to create opportunities for inclusive prosperity. In its 12 sites, it facilitates a community-driven process that matches the local needs of individuals and families not met by existing programs, to organizations with track records of success elsewhere. Since 2004, it has launched 45 portfolio organizations across the 12 sites, invested $31 million and attracted an additional $206 million from other funding sources, reaching more than 560,000 individuals and families in 2022 alone.
Since its launch in Cincinnati in 2015 with the support of a coalition of local donors, GreenLight has invested $3 million to bring five organizations to the city that are helping residents navigate poverty and working to overcome barriers to inclusive economic opportunity.
Before joining GreenLight, Blankemeyer most served as vice president for strategic initiatives for the Manuel D. & Rhoda Mayerson Foundation. She had been a member of GreenLight’s local Selection Advisory Council since 2016 and had invested personally in the organization’s fund. After graduating from Roger Bacon High School, Blankemeyer went to the University of Dayton to study mechanical engineering. She joined the United Way of Greater Cincinnati, launching a career in philanthropy, but quickly was drawn to more innovative giving through collective impact and social entrepreneurship.
Under Blankemeyer, GreenLight added two programs to its existing three initiatives.
“With the solid foundation we built across the community and the strength of our local investments in partnership with you,” she wrote, “I know the impact of our work will be evident for years to come. Each of our five portfolio organizations are in great shape and once a new executive director is in place, they will move forward with our sixth selection cycle utilizing the proven GreenLight method with support from our national network.”
GreenLight co-founder has launched a search for a new director with search firm Koya Partners.
“We are incredibly grateful for Clare’s leadership and the extraordinary impact she’s had on both the GreenLight Fund and the Cincinnati community,” said Hall. “While difficult to see her go, we are excited for the amazing opportunity in front of her and know she will continue to stay connected to GreenLight. Like you, we are deeply committed to Cincinnati.”