CCWA CEO Carina Van Vliet to step down in summer 2025

Carina Van Vliet, Chief Executive Officer of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs (CCWA), will be stepping down this summer for family-related reasons. Carina joined the organization in January 2019 and led the organization through the challenges of the 2020 pandemic and the successful celebrations of CCWA’s Centennial in 2023.

“The Board of Directors is deeply grateful to Carina for the quality of the leadership she provides to CCWA. At a time when complex geopolitical news is flooding our inboxes, Carina has steadily guided and grown the organization into the gem that it is today: CCWA is the organization in Cleveland that gathers our globally minded community and inspires international engagement. CCWA is known for the excellence of its programming, the quality of its staff, and the care and concern it shows for civic engagement in the community,” says Paul Clark, CCWA’s Board Chair. “While we will all miss Carina a lot, the Board of Directors respects her decision to step down to take care of her family in France. Family comes first, and we wish her well.”

Carina has been the CEO of CCWA since 2019. Prior to CCWA, Carina was the Regional Business Development and Communications Manager in the Cleveland office of Jones Day, a global law firm. She was also Senior Advisor to the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Forum. Before moving to Cleveland in 2014, Carina served as a Political Affairs Officer at the United Nations from 2006 to 2014, covering Latin American and Middle East issues, disarmament affairs, and women, peace and security issues. Prior to joining the United Nations, she was the Director for Policy and Leadership Programs at the French American Foundation in New York. She also co-authored an economic history textbook in French and taught international economics in China.

“Carina brought real-world experience of working on geopolitical challenges from the United Nations’ vantage point, as well as a sincere personal commitment to international engagement as an American who grew up in France. Her ability to articulate how diplomatic issues affect us every day here in Cleveland was a real asset to CCWA,” says Heather Hodges, CCWA’s President and Ambassador-in-Residence.

Carina looks back on her experience at CCWA with profound gratitude: “I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to share my passion for international engagement – a passion that is both professional and deeply personal to me – with my fellow Clevelanders. Most of all, I am humbled that I had the chance to lead such an exceptional team of professionals, and to build the kind of work environment that makes this nonprofit such a wonderful organization. I am privileged to have served as CCWA’s CEO, and to have worked with such a dedicated Board of Directors. I look forward to working with my team and the Board on a smooth transition for my successor”.

The Board of Directors of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs is initiating its search for the next CEO. Details will be announced on CCWA’s website on April 1. Interested candidates may start inquiring and applying on April 1.

The mission of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs is to inspire engagement in international affairs and world cultures through education, citizen diplomacy, and public dialogue. CCWA’s programs include speaker forums, global education programs varying from student programs to professional development, and international exchanges. For more information, visit www.ccwa.org.