Barberton Community Foundation Hires LeAnn Starlin Nilsson as Program Officer for Education

New strategic role connects the Foundation’s long-term work in Birth-to-5 Early Learning and Workforce Development & Career Pathways

BARBERTON, Ohio – Barberton Community Foundation has hired LeAnn Starlin Nilsson, Ph.D., as Program Officer for Education, a newly created strategic role designed to strengthen connections across the Foundation’s long-term work from early learning through education and training to meaningful careers.

Nilsson’s work will focus on two priorities in the Foundation’s Strategic Plan: Birth-to-5 Early Learning and Workforce Development & Career Pathways. The position brings dedicated expertise to help the Foundation better understand how early learning, education, training, and workforce systems connect in Barberton, where gaps and opportunities exist, and how its grantmaking and partnerships can contribute to stronger outcomes over time.

“We are embarking on ambitious, long-term work in Barberton, and that requires us to be very intentional about who we bring onto our team,” said Josh Gordon, executive director of Barberton Community Foundation. “Systems change work is larger than a series of individual programs or grants, and we need people who can help us understand where strong work is already happening, where barriers exist for students and families, and where the Foundation can make a meaningful difference to unlock opportunities. LeAnn brings expertise, sound judgment, and curiosity with the ability to build the strong relationships that this work requires. Just as importantly, she brings the experience and perspective we need to help turn our strategy into measurable progress.”

The Foundation’s strategy recognizes that these education stages are connected. Kindergarten readiness has an influence on a student's success in school. Experiences during the school years shape what students see as possible for their futures. Access to the right postsecondary education, credential, or training opportunity can open pathways to meaningful careers and the ability to earn a living wage that can support a family. By looking across that continuum, the Foundation can make more informed investments, strengthen partnerships, and identify opportunities that might be missed when each stage is considered separately.

As Program Officer for Education, Nilsson will work with early learning providers, Barberton City School District, out-of-school time providers, employers, workforce and training organizations, and other community partners to help turn that long-term strategy into measurable progress. She will use data, research, and community knowledge to help identify needs and opportunities, track the results of the Foundation's education-based grant-making, monitor changes in research and policy, identify potential partnerships and outside funding to move the Foundation's work forward faster, and help inform future strategy and investment decisions.

Nilsson brings more than 20 years of experience in education, student success, strategic planning, assessment, program development, and relationship building. She joins the Foundation from Kent State University, where she has served as Director of University Orientation & Visit Experience since 2023. In that role she led strategy and assessment for programs serving prospective and incoming students and worked across the university’s eight-campus system to improve student transitions.

Previously, Nilsson served as Assistant Dean for Recruitment and Retention in Kent State’s College of the Arts, where her work included strategic enrollment and retention efforts, partnerships with area schools and community organizations, and initiatives supporting first-generation and other student populations.

Her experience and expertise in student transitions, educational access across socioeconomic backgrounds, and successful education-based initiatives inform a fresh and exciting approach to the Foundation’s cradle-to-career work. Nilsson will help the Foundation better understand and strengthen the pathways that connect Barberton residents to early learning, out-of-school time opportunities, and postsecondary education, credentials, training, and other educational experiences to prepare Barberton's students for meaningful careers.

Nilsson holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education and a Master of Education in College Student Personnel from Kent State University, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Education from Ohio University. Her doctoral research examined community cultural wealth among Appalachian girls participating in a college-readiness program. She also served as a Data Fellow through Kent State University’s Data Literacy Institute and is a contributing author of Rural Advantage: Leveraging Community Assets for Postsecondary Access.

“Much of my career has focused on understanding what helps people successfully navigate education systems and the transitions within them,” Nilsson said. “This role gives me the opportunity to bring that experience, along with my background in research, assessment, and student success, to work that can make a lasting difference in Barberton. Communities across the country are wrestling with many of these same challenges, and what is especially meaningful to me is the opportunity to help Barberton develop solutions that work here and show what is possible when a community takes a thoughtful, long-term approach.”

Nilsson begins her new role with Barberton Community Foundation on September 1, 2026.