India Pierce Lee 

 

Program Director for
Neighborhoods, Housing, and Community Development
at the Cleveland Foundation

 

by Anthony Orr, crew 4

 

 

Have you lived in the same city your whole life? India Pierce Lee, a native of the Glenville neighborhood, has. So has her husband, a retired fire chief from Burke Lakefront. In fact, Pierce Lee cares about Cleveland so much, it is her job to improve the city.

 

Pierce Lee, 59, started working in nonprofits when a councilman told her to go to Mount Pleasant to help build houses for people in need. “I loved to see the smile when we gave them the keys to their new home,” she said. Pierce Lee realized helping others was her passion, so she joined a community development organization. She went on to work for several nonprofits, and joined the Cleveland Foundation in 2006.

 

At the Cleveland Foundation, Pierce Lee is the program director for neighborhoods, housing, and community development. She helps neighborhoods with arts/culture and beautification. Additionally, she works with other organizations to help people for careers, not just jobs, to make a change in people’s lives. She also helped create a pilot housing program to help people own their own homes in 4-5 years. Pierce Lee said the best part of her job is the people she for and with. She also likes the flexibility of her role at the Cleveland Foundation. “I get to have a lot of autonomy and no day is the same,” she explained. Pierce Lee is currently working on the Greater University Circle Initiative, a partnership between Case Western Reserve University, the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, the city of Cleveland, etc.

 

The Cleveland Foundation’s theme is “turning passion into purpose.” The Cleveland Foundation, which has been around since 1914, has about $2.2 billion in assets that they use to support arts and culture, education, and lastly neighborhoods. They authorize several thousand grants each year to enhance the lives of Cleveland residents. Even though they are able to do a lot, Pierce Lee says it is still not enough. “The hardest part is that there are so many needs in Cleveland, and we have only so many resources,” she explained. “It is hard to say no to people, and people may have a good idea, but we just don’t have the money.”

 

Pierce Lee has received the keys to two cities, Cleveland and Dallas. In Cleveland, Pierce Lee got them from Mayor Michael White in 2001. She was running the city’s Empowerment Zone, which tried to bring businesses to the city. “I would have never expected a key from the city, and I was honored to receive it,” she said. She earned the keys to the city of Dallas in 1996. The mayor of Dallas visited Cleveland and saw Pierce Lee speak as the only on a panel about Cleveland’s neighborhoods. Mayor Woods invited Pierce Lee to speak in Dallas. She met with community organizations, toured the neighborhoods, and then that evening the mayor had her speak at a community-wide event about transforming neighborhoods. “Both times I was very surprised and humbled,” she said.

 

For the future of Cleveland, Pierce Lee hopes “we will have no poverty in Cleveland and all our kids will have access to an excellent education,” she said. She also wants kids to be able to go on to postsecondary education. “It helps you grow as a person,” Pierce Lee explained. Pierce Lee earned postsecondary degrees from Cleveland’s Dyke College and Case Western Reserve University. In 2009 she did a fellowship at Harvard.  As for her own future, Pierce Lee will see where God leads her. “Who knows where I’ll be, maybe president of a foundation?” she wondered.

 

Piece Lee’s experiences have lead her to give advice to those she mentors. “Give 125 percent. Don’t look for praise,” she said. “Someone will be paying attention when you least expect it.” Pierce Lee shows that society doesn’t determine our success; we determine our own succes.