Daniel Cohn serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer, with the Mt. Sinai Health Foundation. In this role, he oversees partnership development and coalition-building and manages the grantmaking staff working in community health and public policy.
In 2019, Dan launched the Lead Safe Cleveland Coalition, a regional public-private partnership aimed at ending childhood lead exposure. With more than 500 active members across 150 organizations, the Coalition has been the driving force behind improving the health and safety of Cleveland’s 100,000 rental housing units. Dan also co-created and co-directed the Greater Cleveland COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund, a $20 million collective impact initiative that pooled public and private resources to address the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2022, Dan served as interim executive director of First Year Cleveland—Northeast Ohio’s public-private partnership aimed at reducing infant mortality—during its strategic transition toward a focus on upstream and community-based strategies that improve the lives of Black women and families.
Before joining Mt. Sinai in 2015, Dan served as Assistant Director of Cornell University’s Center for Engaged Learning + Research, evaluating and managing programs that engaged faculty in translating their academic interests toward meeting community needs. He was a Fellow with the Congressional Hunger Center in the early 2010s, during which time he helped launch a national “food as medicine” advocacy initiative. He was later stationed at the USDA Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships working on First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign and on economic development outreach in the rural South.
Dan’s successes in public service have been recognized a number of times in recent years. In 2023, he was appointed to Leadership Cleveland; was awarded the first-ever Award for Excellence in Community Engagement from the President of Case Western Reserve University; and was recognized as one of 12 regional leaders under 36 years old by the Cleveland Jewish News. He accepted the 2022 HUD Secretary’s Award for Innovation on behalf of Lead Safe Cleveland and is the recipient of the 2022 Howard I. Bruce Award from Cleveland State University. Before that, Dan was appointed Ambassador to the Leap of Reason National Network of high-impact public service professionals. He also accepted the 2019 Community Collaboration Award from the Ohio Environmental Council; the 2019 Forty Under 40 from Crain’s Cleveland Business; the 2019 Leadership Award from the Rochester Coalition to Prevent Lead Poisoning; the 2018 Emerging Leader in Philanthropy Award from Philanthropy Ohio; and the inaugural Health Champion Award from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District in 2017.
Dan’s academic background is in public health, ethics, and urban affairs, and he is exploring further studies in human-technology interaction. In his [limited] downtime, he attempts to manage his Demon-puppy, Lily, and spend as much time with friends as possible.
