FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 3, 2025
MEDIA CONTACT: Cody Hefner (513) 608-5777, chefner@nurfc.org
Freedom Center elects Robert W. McDonald board chair
Michael L. Cioffi, partner at Blank Rome, also joins board
CINCINNATI – The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center recently elected a new chair and added a new member to its Board of Directors. Robert W. McDonald began a two-year term as board chair on January 1, 2025.
McDonald is a partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP where he chairs the firm’s Cincinnati business practice group and has garnered a reputation as a leading advisor in venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings and sports law. In addition to the Freedom Center, he serves on the boards of Interlex Group, the League of American Orchestras, InnovateOhio, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (Immediate Past Chair) and Main Street Ventures. He joined the Freedom Center Board of Directors in November 2023 and immediately assumed the role of chair of the governance committee.
“The Freedom Center is grateful for the energy, vision and talent Rob has brought to our Board of Directors,” said Woodrow Keown, Jr., president & COO of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. “As he steps into his role as board chair, he will be a key to pursuing our bold, sustainable vision as a national and global leader for social justice and equity.”
Dawn Gilmore, a member of the Freedom Center’s Board of Directors and its philanthropy committee since 2022, was elected vice chair. Gilmore, HR Leader of Merchandising, Our Brands and eCommerce at the Kroger Company, will continue to lend her 25 years of organizational and talent development experience to the board. In her 16 years with Kroger, she has held various roles in talent acquisition and performance development.
Michael L. Cioffi, partner at Blank Rome and chair of its Cincinnati office, joins the Freedom Center’s board. Cioffi is experienced in the overall management and practice of complex commercial tort and environmental litigation, including tort contract and trade disputes and representing clients against lawsuits brought by the government related to a variety of state and federal environmental programs. He also represents clients in a variety of environmental-related lawsuits, including exposure to products, chemicals and alleged hazardous materials, violations of the Clean Water Act and environmental insurance coverage litigation. Prior to joining Blank Rome, Cioffi was VP & Assistant General Counsel of American Financial Group, a Partner at Frost & Jacobs and an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Ohio. In addition to the Freedom Center, he has served as a member of various local boards, including the Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He’s a supporter of several civic and charitable organizations, including YWCA Career Women of Achievement, Tender Mercies, Inc., Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati Art Museum, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, American Cancer Society and Big Brothers/Big Sisters.
Kenneth B. Robinson, the Freedom Center’s outgoing chair, served two terms as board chair between 2021 and 2024. Under Robinson’s board leadership, the Freedom Center navigated the COVID pandemic and the organization’s transition to a post-COVID model. A major focus of his board leadership was the upcoming comprehensive exhibit remake strategy and campaign planning while also strengthening organizational capacity to launch new DEIB training initiatives, new programming models, collections expansion and more. Robinson was a founding member of the Board of Directors in 2000. He will remain on the board as immediate past chair.
The Freedom Center’s full Board of Directors roster can be found at freedomcenter.org/about/board-of-directors.
