Recently, the Jennings Foundation welcomed two new members to the Board of Directors: Mrs. Debra Hershey Guren and Mr. Peter Raskind. 

Mrs. Guren, who serves as Managing Partner, Guren Family Limited Partnership, has been an instrumental leader in education in Lake and Geauga counties for more than 25 years. She has served as President, Board of Trustees of Hershey Montessori School in Concord Township since 1985. In this role, she has provided leadership to develop and expand a complete Montessori program for children from ages one to fifteen. Prior to 1985, she served as Vice President and Secretary of the school.

Mrs. Guren also serves as President, Board of Trustees, The Hershey Foundation in Cleveland. She manages all aspects of the foundation including review of grant requests, correspondence, legal, and financial affairs.  She has held and continues to hold leadership positions on several boards in both educational and community organizations throughout the Cleveland area. These include Cleveland Botanical Garden, Montessori Development Partnerships, Hawken School, The Cleveland Foundation Lake-Geauga Fund, and Jewish Community Federation, among others. She began her career in education as a school psychologist in the Willoughby-Eastlake Schools.

Mrs. Guren earned a bachelor’s degree from The University of Michigan and a Master of Education, Educational Psychology, from John Carroll University.

Mr. Raskind, a consultant to banks and private equity bank investors, has 30 years of commercial banking experience. Until its merger with the PNC Financial Services Group, Mr. Raskind served as Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of National City Corporation, which he joined in 2000. He accepted the position as President in 2006. Prior to National City, Mr. Raskind had a 17-year career with U.S. Bancorp/First Bank System, holding positions of successively greater responsibility in a broad range of disciplines.  In 2010, Mr. Raskind served as Interim CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District while the District searched for a new, permanent CEO.

Within the community, he has served on numerous boards including the Cleveland Orchestra, Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Federation of Cleveland, and Northeast Ohio Council on Higher Education.
Mr. Raskind earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a Masters of Business Administration from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

The Foundation is pleased to welcome these individuals to the Board and looks forward to the insight and expertise they will add to the group.