Mahoning Valley - After a months-long, confidential search, the Lake to River Economic Development has a new CEO.

Dani Robbins comes to the organization with extensive background in nonprofit management and social justice.

Seemingly missing, though, is any experience in the field of economic development, the sole and primary focus of Lake to River.

Robbins has previously served as director of nonprofit administration programs at John Carroll University in Cleveland.

She will take over as the first permanent CEO of Lake to River. Alexa Sweeney-Blackann has been serving in the role on an interim basis since it's inception.

In a 2019 profile of women at John Carroll, Robbins was quoted on Medium.com as saying her role at the university was her "dream job," saying she'd made a career advancing social justice "one agency, one community at a time."

In 2020, Robbins wrote an essay on Blue Avocado, an online trade publication for nonprofits, that many boards place too much emphasis on their donors at the expense of the poor.

"Finally, I will share that I worry that our focus on donors sometimes comes at the expense of our families. That's not the intent, but it may be the result. Our agencies do not exist to serve donors. We should embrace our donors and invite them to partner with us to make our communities better, but we can never forget that nonprofits exist to improve our communities," Robbins wrote.

Robbins most recent position has been serving as director of governance strategy for BoardSource, a Washington D.C.-based organization that provides resources to nonprofits on best leadership practices, with a specific focus on racial equity. Robbins has been in that role since 2022.

She's also been a guest lecturer at Ohio State University's John Glenn College of Public Affairs, founded Nonprofit Evolution, a consulting firm, worked as executive director for the Boys and Girls clubs of both Western Reserve and the Highland Lakes and held leadership positions with the Case Western Reserve Women's Coalition, the Anti-Defamation League and Homesafe, a software company.

Robbins would be the only CEO of any of JobsOhio's seven regional partners to have no background in economic development.

The posting for the job from search firm Korn Ferry lists job qualifications that include:

"Deep understanding of regional economic development principles, workforce and business attraction strategies, and the ability to lead cross-sector initiatives that drive job retention, business growth, and investment."

While Robbins biography would seem to include many of the other attributes cited in the posting, there does not appear to be anything in her background that would fit that key qualification.

The search that led to Robbins' selection was conducted in secret, as JobsOhio and it's regional partners are not considered public entities under the law.

This has been a point of contention since JobsOhio was founded in 2012, due to the fact that the organization is funded through the state's liquor profits. That money was previously a part of Ohio's general fund, before being reallocated to the nonprofit and declared private money by legislators.

That means that money that used to be traceable by taxpayers is now spent in private and decisions made by the organization and its regional partners are not subject to public scrutiny.

Late last year, JobsOhio asked the state's controlling board to extend its mission by an additional fifteen years, despite already being in place through 2038, at an estimated cost of between $10 and $22 billion.

Lake to River, the seventh and final of the JobsOhio regional partners, was formed in 2024 after two studies were commissioned, one from Ernst and Young and a second, of which less is publicly known. While Lake to River officials have acknowledged the existence of both studies, they have only ever made one of the two public, claiming they have no requirement to release the studies or their findings, but never explaining why one could be released but the other could not.

To complicate matters further, those studies, along with other Lake to River documents, would be in the possession of the Lake to River members, which include the director of the Western Reserve Port Authority, Anthony Trevena. Trevena has steadfastly declined to provide any of those documents, however, claiming that his work with Lake to River is done entirely in his private capacity and not in his public role with the Port Authority.

The Lake to River region covers Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana and Ashtabula counties. Government entities in those counties have provided Lake to River with more than half a million dollars, with pledges for more to come.

Despite that infusion of tax dollars, the commissioners were not a part of the search for a new CEO.

Trumbull County Commissioner Rick Hernandez said he trusts the board's decision. He was told about the search for a CEO last week.

Commissioner Tony Bernard agreed, and said he did not know much about Robbins background.

"You would think that you would have some type of economic development background in that, but, again, the board members that selected her, they must have felt she had something there which put her above the other candidates," said Bernard.

Mahoning County Commissioner Anthony Traficanti agrees with the Trumbull County commissioners. But he also said, he wishes he was a part of more of the conversations before she was hired.

"Its all taxpayers money that's how it comes down to it. That I would have definitely loved to have been in those interviews because as a commissioner, we sit on many interviews in the county when we do hiring," said Traficanti.

Columbiana County Commissioner Roy Paparodis expressed support for the pick in this statement:

"While commissioners like myself, are actively involved in discussions and the overall decision-making process, our role does not extend to voting on individual appointments. Dani, from Ashtabula, brings a wealth of experience and a strong set of qualifications that we believe will greatly benefit our organization.
Current CEO Alexis Sweeney will remain with us for a transitional period to ensure a smooth handover of responsibilities. This decision is supported by board members Dave Johnson and Penny Traina, from Columbiana County underscoring our confidence in Danny’s leadership."


It's likely Robbins will need to rely in part on the existing Lake to River infrastructure as she gets up to speed on the economic development needs of the region.

That would likely include board chair Charles George, a Canfield businessman who has already been at the center of some controversy involving investment decisions.

That stems from when the West Warren Industrial Complex received $3 million through a JobsOhio partner, despite George being one of three men behind the project.

JobsOhio and Lake to River have both insisted George did not take part in any discussions regarding that investment, although it is not possible to verify that since meetings are not public. There has also not been a clear answer as to whether George could have still had a silent influence over the decision by virtue of his leadership role with the nonprofit.

Upon the announcement of Robbins as CEO, a representative from the marketing firm working with Lake to River initially offered interviews with both George and Blackann but then rescinded the offer for 21 News, saying they would only answer questions via email.

When 21 News responded, asking about Robbins lack of economic development experience, policies to avoid conflicts of interest and lack of involvement from either the public or elected officials, the representative replied, refusing to answer anything except the question about lack of experience.

"Very disappointing that you're trying to re-litigate non-issues that you've brought up in the past that have already been answered, as in Questions #2 and #3. Question #1 is a solid, legitimate question that deserves an answer, though. We'll provide a response to that one," they wrote in an email.

The PR rep went on to provide a statement from George that did not address that question directly, instead only saying:

""Dani is the right leader at the right time. She brings over two decades of executive leadership in nonprofits, civic work and board governance. She understands how to lead organizations through growth and complexity, and she knows this region because her leadership journey began here in Ashtabula County. We were especially drawn to her ability to build partnerships and drive strategy across sectors."

According to the advertisement listing the CEO job, Robbins would be making between $200,000 and $225,000.