United Black Fund of Greater Cleveland Names Twyla Turner Executive Director

CLEVELAND, OHIO — October 30, 2026 — The United Black Fund of Greater Cleveland (UBF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Twyla Turner as Executive Director, effective October 24, 2026.

Turner's appointment follows a comprehensive executive search conducted by UBF's Board of Directors and marks an important milestone as the 45-year-old organization moves from a period of organizational strengthening and transition into its next chapter of permanent leadership, growth, and community impact.

“Over the past year, UBF has done significant work to strengthen the foundation behind our mission and prepare the organization for this moment. Following a thoughtful and comprehensive search, the Board is confident that Twyla is the right leader to guide UBF forward. She understands the organization, our community, and the tremendous opportunity ahead of us.”

A Cleveland native, Turner brings more than 15 years of experience in program development, organizational operations, growth strategy, and community impact. Prior to her appointment as Executive Director, she served as UBF's Director of Program Resources, providing her with firsthand knowledge of the organization, its partners, and the work underway to strengthen UBF's operations and community investment infrastructure.

As Executive Director, Turner will provide overall leadership for UBF's strategy, operations, fund development, community investment, organizational capacity-building initiatives, fiscal sponsorship program, partnerships, and external relationships.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead an organization with such a meaningful legacy in Greater Cleveland. UBF has a strong foundation, an important mission, and tremendous opportunity ahead. I look forward to listening, strengthening relationships, and working alongside our Board, staff, partners, funders, and community as we continue Building Forward.”

Over the past year, UBF has undertaken a significant organizational strengthening initiative focused on improving financial and operational systems, governance and accountability, human resources and organizational infrastructure, technology and documented workflows, grantmaking, fiscal sponsorship, and leadership readiness.

The work was led through an interim executive consulting engagement with Cheryl C. Perez Enterprises, LLC, with Cheryl C. Perez serving in the functional capacity of Interim CEO Consultant.

“I came into this engagement with a very specific assignment: help stabilize the organization, strengthen the infrastructure behind the mission, and prepare UBF to successfully transition to its next permanent Executive Director. We have reached that moment. The foundation is stronger, the organization is ready, and I am excited to support Twyla as she takes the keys and leads UBF into its next chapter.”

Perez will remain engaged through December 22, 2026, in a defined Executive Leadership Transition Support role to assist with institutional knowledge transfer, relationship handoffs, implementation support, and continuity during Turner's first 60 days.

UBF will continue sharing additional updates over the coming months regarding its community investment strategy, nonprofit capacity-building work, fiscal sponsorship program, the upcoming UBF State of Black Community Investment Report, and its broader strategic direction for 2027.

For UBF, Turner's appointment represents both the successful completion of a leadership transition and the beginning of what comes next.

We are Building Forward.