Jonathan Beard is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Columbus Compact Corporation (“the Compact”), a nonprofit community redevelopment corporation that works to revitalize Columbus’s central city neighborhoods. For 15 years, he was responsible for overseeing policy, strategy, and day-to-day management of the Columbus Enterprise Community and Empowerment Zone, urban redevelopment initiatives of the City of Columbus and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In this role he directed, oversaw, and was financially accountable for a wide range of community economic development strategies, including real estate development, business financing and technical assistance, employment training and placement, and neighborhood safety and improvement efforts. Mr. Beard serves as a trustee on the boards of Ohio Dominican University, Campus Partners for Community Revitalization, Driving Park Youth Baseball League, and Old National Road Business Association. He was a past Trustee on the Boards of the United Way of Central Ohio, Leadership Columbus, Columbus/Franklin County Workforce Policy Board, and Metropolitan Human Services Commission. He has a Masters in Public Administration from the Ohio State University and Bachelors in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.