Meet FrontLine Service’s Leadership Team

Chief Executive Officer Susan Neth leads an experienced and dedicated executive team to fully articulate and implement FrontLine Service’s mission and values in their everyday lives.

As leaders, they carefully evaluate the needs of the individuals and communities they serve through FrontLine Service and promote participation in the design of programs that can effectively and efficiently meet those needs. They ensure that the care and business operations are safe, ethical, effective, efficient, and responsive to the needs of those we serve.

Some of the most experienced, educated, dedicated, and diverse lead our agency to improve how we provide important and vital services to our community. Our directors work directly with staff in weekly meetings and coordinate the most effective opportunities to create lasting and meaningful change as a nonprofit that reaches out to adults and children in Northeast Ohio to end homelessness, prevent suicide, resolve behavioral health crises and overcome trauma. As our agency grows, so does our leadership team, which we hope to expand to each of the many services we provide.

SUSAN NETH, MS, LSW

Executive Director

Susan Neth joined FrontLine Service in 1988, the year the agency was founded, shortly after earning her social work license. She served as one of the agency’s first case managers, helping to pilot a new, innovative outreach service to individuals experiencing homelessness who were not connected to services. Following the successful pilot program, Ms. Neth took on a variety of roles to help expand community services for this population: Systems Director (1991), Director of Community Support (1993), Director of Homeless Services (1999), Director of Community Development (2002), and Chief Operating Officer (2006).

Her accomplishments in these roles include securing the agency’s certification from the Ohio Department of Mental Health, facilitating the integration of a child crisis service team from another agency into FrontLine’s newly-created Mobile Crisis team, leading the agency’s development of the Community Women’s Shelter, overseeing the agency’s first accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, cultivating constructive relationships with other community service providers, managing the agency’s renovation of a 36,000 square foot administrative and service headquarters, and guiding FrontLine to become a leader in Trauma-Informed Care. 

Since becoming Executive Director in 2008, Ms. Neth has drawn on her years of experience to ensure that services are delivered in a way that honors every individual’s story. Under her direction, FrontLine continues to innovate and use a trauma-informed lens to fulfill the agency’s mission to reach out to adults and children in Northeast Ohio to end homelessness, prevent suicide, resolve behavioral health crises, and overcome trauma. Ms. Neth holds an MS in Organizational Development and Analysis from Case Western Reserve University.

David Dasko

Director of Quality Improvement

Derrick Kirklen, MED, LPCC-S, LICDC

Director of Behavioral Health & Forensic Services

Jennifer Harrison, MSSA, LISW-S

Director of Behavioral Health Services - Housing & Employment

Kelly Jones

Director of Finance

Meredith Black, MBA, SHRM-SCP, SPHR

Director of Human Resources

Rick Oliver, PCC-S

Director of Crisis & Trauma Services

Shawna Gurley, MPA

Director of Emergency Housing Services

Amy Clum Holbrook (Vice Chair)
Weltman, Weinberg & Reis – Partner

Christine Oblak (Chair Development)
Parker Hannifin – Group Strategic Pricing Managers, Aerospace

Laura Feller (Chair Governance)
GoDaddy, Director of Accounting

M. Katie McCullough (Chair Finance)

Julie’s years of service to our community were characterized by her kindness, her incredible leadership skills, and her commitment to lifting others up. She had the ability to listen to others as if they were the only person in the world. And she was relentless in her pursuit of bettering the lives of those who were marginalized, oppressed, and struggling. 

Julie joined the FrontLine Service Board of Directors in 1994, six years after the organization was created. In whatever capacity she served on the board, she was wholly invested. Her ability to create and maintain relationships and partnerships amongst the social service providers, as well as decision-makers in our city and county, helped to create opportunities for programming for those experiencing the most critical of needs. She was instrumental in helping to define the strategic growth of FrontLine, as the agency expanded to include the provision of crisis intervention services and outreach to those experiencing trauma.     

In 2002, Julie organized a group of Clevelanders to visit Chicago’s new permanent supportive housing—an innovative model to reduce chronic homelessness. Upon her return, Julie worked diligently to rally public and private partners to bring permanent supportive housing to Cuyahoga County. Thanks to Julie’s vision and diplomacy, our community now benefits from more than 1,000 units of permanent supportive housing.   

Julie fought ardently for justice and touched countless lives through her work with FrontLine Service, the Sisters of Charity Foundation, Cleveland Housing Network, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, St. Patrick Parish, the Notre Dame Club of Cleveland, the GAR Foundation, the Senior Transportation Connection, and Cleveland State University.  

We honor Julie’s memory and her lifelong commitment to serving others. Julie’s spirit and her years of generous service will be carried forward through the work she helped make possible.

Read the obituary here