GreenLight Fund Announces Cincinnati Executive Director

Erin Saul joins organization to lead next phase of work in Cincinnati

Cincinnati, OH – November 1, 2023 – GreenLight Fund, a national nonprofit funder, welcomes Erin Saul as the new GreenLight Cincinnati Executive Director. She joins GreenLight with a deep passion for ensuring positive outcomes for children and families in Cincinnati and experience working across sectors to promote equity and identifying and implementing evidence-based interventions. As executive director, Saul will provide on-the-ground support to GreenLight’s existing five portfolio organizations as well as lead the community-driven process to bring the next set of social innovations to Cincinnati to address pressing unmet needs.

“Having had the opportunity to work with Erin in the past, knowing her strengths and her commitment to Cincinnati, I am excited for her to lead GreenLight Cincinnati,” said Ross Meyer, Vice President, Strategy, Interact for Health. “I’m thrilled to work with her as part of GreenLight’s local Selection Advisory Council to tackle some of our community’s toughest challenges with programs that deliver results.”

Most recently, Saul was at the Mayerson Center for Safe and Healthy Children at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital where she led a community coalition of nearly 50 schools, healthcare, and early childhood organizations working to reduce the incidence and impact of early childhood trauma in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She has a B.A. in Political Science from Denison University and a Masters of Business Leadership and Innovation (MBLI) from Northern Kentucky University’s Haile College of Business. Saul was recognized for her impact in the community when she was named Cincinnati Children’s Young Professional of the Year in 2021, and again in 2022 when the Nancy and David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center honored her with the inaugural Upstander Award. She is a proud member of the YWCA Rising Stars Class of 2020 and uses her nonprofit board equity certification as a board member for Mission2Move, a local organization that brings mindful movement programming to public preschools.

“I am proud to lead GreenLight Cincinnati as we work to understand and address what’s preventing families in our community from thriving. Thanks to GreenLight Cincinnati’s track record and dedicated, passionate local GreenLight staff, I am inheriting the trust of the community and a reputation for bold commitment to solving Cincinnati’s most pressing social challenges. I’m honored to carry on GreenLight’s work here and ensure our future investments make a difference for the people of Cincinnati,” shared Erin Saul, GreenLight Cincinnati Executive Director.

GreenLight Cincinnati partners with the local community to identify barriers to economic mobility and select and invest in bringing proven, innovative models to break down those barriers and support inclusive prosperity. Nonprofits GreenLight helps scale to Cincinnati are additive to the local ecosystem, address deep-rooted disparities and open opportunities for children and families. As executive director, Saul will partner with the Selection Advisory Council, an inclusive, cross-sector group of community leaders, along with residents proximate to the areas they are looking to address to vet and select evidenced-based programs with measurable results to bring to Cincinnati.

GreenLight Fund launched in Cincinnati in 2015 and has supported five organizations to scale to Cincinnati to effectively address community-identified unmet needs. Saul will provide ongoing strategic support to those local organizations: Homestart’s Renew Collaborative, The Literacy Lab’s Leading Men Fellowship, First Place for Youth’s My First Place program housed at NewPath, UpTogether and Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO).

GreenLight Fund’s CEO and Co-founder Margaret Hall remarked, “We’re delighted to have Erin on the team. Her experience along with her passion for equity and the local community make her an excellent fit to lead GreenLight Cincinnati as we work to make real progress on dismantling deep-rooted racial and economic disparities with innovative programs that are rooted at the local level.”

Supporters that enable GreenLight’s locally focused work in Cincinnati include: Sue and Stephen Baggott, Bank of America, Tony and Clare Zlatic Blankemeyer, Archie and Sharen Brown, Clement & Ann Buenger Foundation, Bill Butler, Manuel Chavez, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati Regional Business Committee (CRBC), Crossroads, The Duke Energy Foundation, First Financial Foundation, Greg and Amy Fischer, Bobby and Arna Fisher, Dan and Susan Fleming, Gilman Partners, Goldman Sachs, The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, Eagle One Fund at Horizon Community Funds of Northern Kentucky, Kevin and Francy Hughes, iHeartMedia, The Jewish Foundation, Lair and Anna Kennedy, The Manuel D. and Rhoda Mayerson Foundation, Lynn and Glen Mayfield, Holly Mazzocca, John and Marylou McIlwraith, Laura Menge, James and Jane Neyer, John and Francie Pepper, Procter & Gamble, The Ragland Family, Rhinestone Foundation, Mark Richey, Scripps Howard Foundation, Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trusts, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee, Tom and Nancy Shepherd, Brent and Valarie Sheppard, Steve and Julie Shifman, John and Susan Simon, The Sinclaire Family, John and Jen Stein, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP, Kathy and Bost Thornton, Dionn Tron, United Way of Greater Cincinnati, U.S. Bank, George and Kim Vincent, The Vora Foundation, Western & Southern Financial Fund, The Woods Family, and James and Mary Zimmerman.