CLEVELAND — Editor's Note: The above video is from a previous interview with Danielle Sydnor
Changes are coming to the Cleveland Branch of the NAACP.
On Wednesday, Danielle Sydnor announced that she will be stepping down as president of the NAACP's Cleveland Branch effective in June of 2022. Kayla Griffin, who serves as 1st VP, will assume Sydnor's role and serve the remainder of her term ending Dec. 31, 2022.
The day-to-day operations of the NAACP Cleveland Branch will continue to be led and managed by Crystal Bryant, who serves as executive director.
Sydnor has been named as the CEO of the newly formed Rise Together Innovation Center in Columbus. Her duties will officially begin on September 13, 2021 and she plans to split her time between Northeast Ohio and Columbus until next summer.
"After much deliberation with my family, I have decided that this is an opportunity that I just cannot pass up," Sydnor said in a letter announcing her new position. "In my new role, I will be working to tackle the systemic issues of poverty by focusing on jobs, health, housing, and youth. I know that all of the amazing work I’ve had the chance to do in Cleveland has prepared me for such a time as this."
In addition to her work with the NAACP Cleveland Branch, Sydnor is the founder and CEO of We Win Strategies Group, a company focused on advancement, access, and upward mobility for disadvantaged populations through economic development, racial equity and inclusion and entrepreneurship opportunities.
"I wanted to look at my finance career plus my work in community and economic development and really marry them together," she explained to 3News earlier this year. "To be a voice at the table where often times, especially Black folks are not at the table helping to create what these next plans and strategies look like for recovery."
Prior to founding We Win Strategies Group, Sydnor was Northern Ohio executive director of the Economic and Community Development Institute (ECDI) where she managed an annual budget of $2.6 million and had strategic oversight of ECDI Northern Ohio operations.
"It has been such an honor to be trusted to lead and serve in so many great organizations in this region, so this is not goodbye, but see you later. Even in Columbus, I know the relationships that I’ve forged here will be instrumental to my success, so I plan to keep in touch to find ways to collaborate and achieve these big audacious goals that we’ve set out to accomplish," Sydnor added in her letter.
Editor's Note: The below video is a from a "'21 Strong" profile done on Danielle Sydnor earlier this year