About Us - CollabCle

WE ENVISION A BETTER CLEVELAND

Our Vision: We envision a Cleveland that supports, amplifies, and celebrates women—a community where gender justice is at the heart of our policies & practices.

Our Values shape our vision and are the foundation for our work.

INTERCONNECTION

To build deep, lasting relationships grounded in humility, empathy, and mutual respect. To nurture and share in a space where all are welcome and belong.

COLLABORATION

To partner genuinely within our organization and with the nonprofits we serve and broader nonprofit community in a way that develops trust and honors all voices and experiences––recognizing trust takes time to build and requires sincerity, reliability, competence, and care.

INNOVATION

To go beyond how things have been done historically and imagine what is possible. To approach our work with a spirit of exploration, experimentation, and play.

JUSTICE + LIBERATION

To share and shift power to communities oppressed by existing systems and not stand in the way of these communities’ liberation and healing.

EVOLUTION

To wholeheartedly participate in personal, organizational, and community learning and growth. To listen to and honor others’ experiences, deeply valuing knowledge gained and expressed in a wide range of ways. To actively engage in healing ourselves from the harm and separation caused by participating in unjust systems.

Meet Our Team

Abby Westbrook (she/her)

Executive Director

Abby Westbrook is the Executive Director of Collaborate Cleveland. She joined the organization in Fall 2020 and led it through an evolution to focus on supporting women and advancing gender justice in Greater Cleveland, including a rename and rebrand. Abby’s leadership is grounded in her past experiences as a legal advocate at the Homeless Advocacy Project, as a Program Executive at the Atlantic Philanthropies, her realities as a working mother raising two young children and her belief in the power of collective giving and action. A Cleveland native, Abby has high hopes for what our great city can become for everyone when we center women and gender justice.

Eliza Semidei (she/her)

Director of Development

Eliza is passionate about building relationships and connecting people to meaningful work. She believes philanthropy is ultimately about people and is inspired by what can happen when individuals come together around a shared purpose. She is proud to support Collaborate Cleveland's work to connect, amplify, and invest in local women leaders as catalysts for positive change and advocate for policies that further gender justice in our region and beyond. Outside of work, she serves on two nonprofit boards and is an enthusiastic advocate for community leadership and lifelong learning.

Emily Troia (she/her)

Director of Strategic Engagement

Emily Troia loves that relationships are at the core of Collaborate Cleveland’s work and her role is helping to build them. She’s passionate about bringing people together to learn, grow, advocate, and share in the work of cultivating a more just society. Joining the organization in 2017 as a program assistant, she has enjoyed her own growth journey. In a past life, she was a graphic designer and marketer. She also has an MFA in Creative Writing in Poetry from the NEOMFA Program and plays a lot of board games.

Margie Glick (she/her)

Director of Advocacy

Margie Glick is thrilled to serve as the Advocacy Director at Collaborate Cleveland where she is working to advance policies that support paid family leave and pay equity. Margie joined in March 2025 and brings with her a diverse array of policy and advocacy experience from her time working for Lutheran Metropolitan Ministry, the Higher Education Compact of Greater Cleveland, Vanderbilt University’s Office of Federal Relations and for U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown. Now a mother to two, Margie has a new perspective on how systemic barriers impact women in the workforce and is committed to finding solutions that are equitable, empowering and supportive to women in all phases of life.

Tiarra Lucas (she/her)

Communications and Events Coordinator

Tiarra Lucas is the Communications and Events Coordinator at Collaborate Cleveland. She joined the team in September 2025 and uses creativity and design to bring the organization’s mission to life through digital campaigns, visual storytelling, engaging content across platforms, and more. With a background in graphic design and visual storytelling, Tiarra is passionate about using creativity to foster connection, spark engagement, and support meaningful change. She is inspired by the dedication of the Collaborate Cleveland community and the impact of advancing gender justice in Cleveland and beyond.