The Lake-Geauga Fund Committee added new members, according to a news release.
Alison Adinaro, Bill Patterson and Angela Spalsbury join committee members Richard Frenchie, Tracy Jemison, Jane Neubauer and committee chair Nancy Guthrie. The seven-person committee oversees the Lake-Geauga Fund of the Cleveland Foundation, according to the release.
Adinaro is the executive assistant to the president at Marous Brothers Construction, a Willoughby-based family business that provides services including construction management, historic restoration, interior finishes, designing, carpentry, etc. Prior to her current position, she held positions at Polychem Corporation and Race Winning Brands, both based in Mentor. She has served and held leadership positions on a number of boards and committees including Leadership Lake County, United Way of Lake County, Western Reserve Junior Service League, Family Planning Association of Northeast Ohio, Lake Parks Foundation and Toastmasters International.
Patterson is a sixth-generation family farmer who owns and operates Patterson Fruit Farm in Chester Township, together with his brother David Patterson. Patterson Fruit Farm has over 100 acres of land dedicated to growing various fruits, among which apple is the most prominent. The farm allows visitors to pick their own fruits and offers various school tours as well as senior programs. The farm’s Orchard Hills Center caters to weddings and other group events. Patterson has served and held leadership positions on various associations and trade groups including the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation, Ohio Produce Growers & Marketers Association, and the Geauga County Farm Bureau.
Spalsbury is the dean and chief administrative officer of Kent State University at Geauga in Burton and Regional Academic Center in Twinsburg. A Kent State alumna, Spalsbury left her position as professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Youngstown State University and joined Kent State in 2018. She has previously held positions at John Carroll University, Hiram College and the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Her research interests include functional analysis, mathematics and art, measure theory, and operator theory. She is a member of the American Mathematical Society, the Association for Women in Mathematics and the Mathematical Association of America.
This year, the Lake-Geauga Fund awarded a total of $120,329 in grants through its annual RFP process. Five different organizations received grants for collaborative projects that address important community issues in Lake and Geauga counties.