Lakewood Represented on Cuyahoga County’s Next Generation Council

Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald announced last week the appointment of 15 members to the county's Next Generation Council.

And Lakewood has some representation.

The county executive established the council to give young professionals in Cuyahoga County an opportunity to help the new county government in its efforts to attract and retain the young talent to the region, according to a news release.

The appointed members are: Bryce Sylvester, who works for the city of Lakewood’s planning and development department, Lindsey Alexander, Whitney Anderson, Erika L. Anthony, Matt Brakey, Daniel Brown, Andrew Coleman, Hallie Bram Kogelschatz, Ludgy A. LaRochelle, Hermione Malone, Timothy McCue, Michelle Mulcahy, Jason Russell, Scott Snider, and Leah Yomtovian Roush.

Councilmembers were selected from a diverse pool of over 125 applicants between the ages of 20 and 35. The group will begin meeting in March and will work to develop a strategic plan to outline their goals and deliverables. Each member of the council will serve a two year term.

Sylvester is a city planner in Lakewood working closely on the city’s housing and entrepreneurship initiatives, along with implementing the .  

Recently, he helped lead a Residential Housing Survey in Lakewood to gain a better understanding of the state of housing in Lakewood, which will play a significant role in the city’s future planning and residential development.

Additionally, he is also helping to run Lakewood’s entrepreneurship organization Startup Lakewood, geared toward making Lakewood a more appealing place for entrepreneurs to build and grow ideas into legitimate businesses. 

“The Next Generation Council will provide an opportunity for my administration to get input from young professionals on how the County can develop the right conditions to engage the creative class of our region,” said FitzGerald. “We are lucky to have such a diverse group to begin this important initiative in our community.” 

According to the news release, the development of the Next Generation Council is a direct response to the growing need to make Cuyahoga County  a more inclusive and competitive region, and is a key priority of the Western Reserve Plan outlined by the County Executive during the State of the County Address.