Canalway Partners announced on August 27 that it has appointed Conor Coakley, Roberta Duarte, Diana Hildebrand, and Sam McNulty to its Board of Directors.
Chris Ronayne, board chair of Canalway Partners on the new board members: “Canalway Partners is on the move in more ways than one. With the near completion of the Towpath Trail in Cleveland creating exciting new connections, we’re enthusiastically welcoming community members with a diversity of backgrounds and skill sets to our governance board. We’re collectively coming together for the purpose of community health, recreation, and vitality.”
Conor Coakley
Conor Coakley has worked as a broker for CBRE (commercial real estate) since December 2012. He has been instrumental in projects from both public and private sectors-including the Cuyahoga County Real Estate Portfolio Consultation, Cleveland Clinic, Live Nation, Drury Hotels, and K&D Group. He spearheaded the repositioning of historic and new market tax credit eligible assets for redevelopment.
Conor graduated from Fordham University and and earned his master’s degree from Cleveland State University, Levin College of Urban Affairs. He serves on the boards of Land Studio, New Village Corporation, Detroit Shoreway Community Development Corporation.
Roberta Duarte
Roberta Duarte, is a native of Paraguay and a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, where she focused on Global and Public Health Sciences with a concentration in Social Behavioral Sciences. Roberta has worked locally and abroad, primarily resolving strategic issues related to outreach and resource access.
In 2016, Roberta moved back to Cleveland to be part of the inaugural cohort of the Cleveland Foundation Public Service Fellowship. Roberta served as a Community and Public Health Fellow at The MetroHealth System, worked for Esperanza, Inc., and is currently a Project Manager at JumpStart Inc. In 2019, Roberta founded Areko Consulting, responsible for leading culturally competent initiatives with a global and public health approach in projects like 25Connects / 25Conecta for The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. Roberta serves as The Young Latino Network Vice President, Hathaway Brown Alumnae Council member, LatinUs Theater Company board member and a MetroHealth Executive N.E.T. committee member.
Diana Hildebrand
Diana Hildebrand is a mom, activist, advocate, and a bike enthusiast with the goal to “Chang Lives Two wheels at a Time”. Diana is the founder of DevahD Cycling, a business that encompasses everything cycling while providing education, health, wellness and support to bike organizations and companies. She is also the Shero for the Cleveland chapter of Black Girls Do Bike, a national bike organization geared to get more women on bikes and provide a platform for WOC.
Diana brings a range of skills from accountant to licensed cycling instructor through the League of American Bicyclist. Diana is looking forward to being a part of an amazing organization and connecting communities two wheels at a time.
Sam McNulty
Sam McNulty is the co-founder and owner of several restaurants & breweries on W. 25th St. in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood: Market Garden Brewery, McNulty’s Bier Market, Bar Cento, Speakeasy, and Nano Brew. As each opening brought more visitors Cleveland’s burgeoning beer district; it demonstrated the truth in the urban planning ideal of having the highest amount of choice in the smallest amount of area.
Sam graduated from Cleveland State University with a degree in Urban Planning, Design and Development. He bikes whenever possible kayaks, travels, and reads “anything he can get his hands on.” Sam lives in Duck Island with his wife Ciara and their dog BoBo in a 7-unit townhouse complex he developed.