Veteran Cleveland community leaders Giesele Robinson Greene, M.D., F.A.C.P., and Stephen Rowan, J.D., D.Min., have been appointed co-chairs of the Community Advisory Board of the NEOMED-CSU Partnership for Urban Health, effective January 4, 2016.

The board is a community conduit for the NEOMED-CSU partnership, a collaboration between Northeast Ohio Medical University and Cleveland State University for recruiting and training a more diverse health care workforce to provide primary care in medically underserved urban communities. Specifically, the partnership seeks to connect pre-medical students and medical students directly to the types of Cleveland communities they will serve after completing their residency training.

Dr. Greene is senior vice president and chief medical officer of the Cleveland-based Sisters of Charity Health System, where she provides medical leadership to advance best practices in clinical care, quality and safety. She works with St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in bringing urban medicine, medical education and services to its community. She is a graduate of the Howard University College of Medicine, a board-certified internist and a fellow in the American College of Physicians.

Rev. Dr. Rowan is pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood. Previously, he worked at the Cleveland Foundation, where he oversaw faith-based and digital divide programs. He also worked for Cuyahoga County, where he was chief deputy administrator, and at the law firm of Ulmer & Berne LLP, where he specialized in public law and minority and female businesses. A graduate of Glenville High School, he holds a Master of Public Administration from Northern Illinois University, a law degree from CSU’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, a Master of Divinity from Trinity Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from Ashland Theological Seminary.

In their new positions, Dr. Greene and Rev. Dr. Rowan succeed Dr. Edgar Jackson Jr., (who has been appointed co-director of the NEOMED-CSU Partnership for Urban Health) and the late Honorable Louis Stokes, who served as co-chairs of the Community Advisory Board since the NEOMED-CSU Partnership was launched in 2012. In 2015, the partnership received a $5.5 million grant from the Cleveland Foundation.