Christine is the CEO of OPEN M. Prior to joining OPEN M, Christine was the stewardship and development program coordinator at Northeast Ohio Medical University. Previously she served the citizens of the City of Akron as a member of Mayor Daniel Horrigan’s cabinet as director of communications for two years. Before joining the cabinet, Christine proudly served her alma mater, The University of Akron, for nearly 20 years in a variety of capacities. She hired in as a public relations representative and moved up within the Division, serving as a public relations representative, director of Alumni Relations and lastly as director of development, stewardship, and donor services.

She is a member of Leadership Akron Alumni Association (Class 24) and serves on the Akron Roundtable Board of Trustees, Our Lady of the Elms Board of Trustees, and the Lebron Family Foundation - LAB Community Board. Christine also is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., ZTO Chapter, Akron. Throughout her professional and volunteer career, her main focus has been to help children, teens and young adults achieve their dreams.

Christine has taught workshops on resume writing, newswriting, self-esteem, interviewing, and cultural diversity for YEPAW, Upward Bound, Summa Health System’s former nursing program, Women’s Network, Akron Public Schools, and area church youth groups. Christine’s vision for OPEN M is to continue the mission of creating pathways out of poverty for individuals and families while also providing more robust, skills-based services that will enable those receiving help to move from being needful members of the community to self-sustaining members of the community.

Christine and her husband Jay reside in Akron. 

The mission of The Love Akron Network is Connect, Convene, and Collaborate with Change-Makers to make a Collective Impact.  Their vision statement is “A Christian-based organization, an intersectional hub working to unify the colors, cultures, and congregations to see Greater Akron thrive.

• Love Akron has several initiatives.  One of those initiatives is related to Mental Health and Wellness.  Love Akron’s Mental Health and Wellness Initiative focuses 100% on the unmet needs in the Greater Akron communities. The unmet need is that individuals have not been exposed to the benefits of Mental Health treatment for many reasons, one of which is due to the stigma surrounding this subject.
  
  Love Akron is working in partnership with community organizations to provide support and help to a very underserved and undiagnosed population. Their focus, mission, and goal are to change the culture of mental health so that those in need will receive the care and support they deserve, all while addressing misinformation and raising awareness on such.
   
• Another initiative is their Grieve Recovery Program.  According to Mr. Boyd, grief is the normal and natural emotional response to change or loss of any kind: death, divorce, moving, financial changes, health changes, relationship changes. Grief is also the result of unmet hopes, dreams and expectations and the loss of intangible concepts such as safety, trust, security, respect, faith, dignity.

• In collaboration with Summit County ADM Board (primary investor) and Summa Health, Love Akron has trained Fifteen (15) specialist to lead and conduct both of these initiatives (see more information about these initiatives on their website).

• 2/24 @ 6 pm – Akron Summit Library
   
• 3/1 @ 6 pm – Middleburg Heights Library
   
• 3/5 @ 9:30 am – Mayfield Branch Cuyahoga County Library (there will be a virtual option for this session but you must register to get the link)