Nina Turner is this year’s Keynote Speaker at the CBWPA’s 38th Annual Luncheon “From Eve to Today: Celebrating Generations” Saturday, October 8, noon, at the Renaissance Hotel, Stapleton.
Throughout her career in public service – as a legislative aide, a cabinet member in Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White’s administration, a lobbyist for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, a Cleveland City Council-member, a State Senator and a candidate for Secretary of State – Nina Turner has made it her mission to empower individuals, institutions, and communities to achieve their greatest greatness.
Turner is currently a professor of history at Cuyahoga Community College and Chair of Party Engagement at the Ohio Democratic Party. In this role, Turner is involved in the planning and implementation of all political, constituency and issue-based outreach and programming.
At Turner’s urging, Governor Kasich created the Ohio Task Force on Community and Police Relations.
Turner co-chaired the Task Force and now sits on the newly formed Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board – created to develop the first-ever standards for law-enforcement agencies statewide. Turner is a board member of the Karamu House, the United Way of Greater Cleveland, and the Cleveland Police Foundation Turner’s work ethic, empathy and commitment to public service stem largely from her humble beginnings in Cleveland, Ohio as the oldest of seven children. Determined to rise above her circumstances and break the cycle of poverty, Turner worked her way through school earning her Associate of Arts degree from Cuyahoga Community College and her Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees from Cleveland State University. In 2013, Turner received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Wilberforce University.
Her career path first led her to Columbus, where she served as a legislative aide in the office of former State Senator Rhine McLin. She was soon called back to her hometown to work in the administration of Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White as his Executive Assistant for Legislative Affairs and as the Director of Government Affairs for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
In 2005, Turner was elected as the first woman to represent Ward 1 on the Cleveland City Council. In 2008, she was appointed to the vacant 25th District Ohio Senate seat and two years later was elected by her constituents to continue her service as their voice in Columbus.
As a legislator, Turner championed innovative solutions to critical challenges, sought to promote collaboration and regionalism in local governance and fought to maintain the economic security of the middle class.