Bethia Burke is the president of the Fund for Our Economic Future, a nonprofit organization working to advance a more equitable economy in Northeast Ohio. As president, Bethia brings critical leadership to Northeast Ohio’s most pressing challenges—working with diverse stakeholders to find common ground while advancing real solutions to drive a more equitable, growing economy. Bethia leads the Fund’s governing body—a board representing cross-sector, regional perspectives from the Fund’s 18-county footprint—and team of staff and consulting partners in advancing the organization’s strategic priorities to drive systems change that reduce racial inequities and set the course for a more prosperous, resilient Northeast Ohio economy.

Bethia is consistently recognized across Northeast Ohio for her leadership and influence in philanthropy and economic development, for example as a Crain’s Cleveland Business Women of Note (2022), on Ohio Business Magazine’s ‘Ohio 500’ list of Ohio’s most powerful and influential people (2022, 2023), with a Medical Mutual’s Pillar Award for Community Service as a Nonprofit Executive Director of the Year Award (2022) and with a Progressive Woman Award from Smart Business Northeast Ohio (2024).

Bethia attended Case Western Reserve University where she earned dual undergraduate degrees in economics and English. She spent her early career in the greater Washington, D.C., area conducting cost risk reviews of major defense programs while earning her master’s degree in applied economics at Johns Hopkins University.