Lillian Kuri is Lebanese American. She was born in the US but her parents both immigrated from Tripoli, Lebanon. Currently, her family lives in Beirut (and many of her mother’s family now lives in Brazil).

Lillian currently works at the Cleveland Foundation as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.  In this role, Lillian is leading the development of Foundation’s new strategic plan, she co-leads the Foundation’s social impact investing strategy and the design, execution and operations for the Foundation’s new Headquarters to Midtown.

Lillian joined the Cleveland Foundation in 2005 as a consultant for the revitalization of Greater University Circle – now one of the nation’s leading comprehensive anchor institution development strategies.  She officially joined the staff in 2007 as Program Director and in 2016 was promoted to Vice President, Strategic Grantmaking, Arts & Urban Design, focusing her work on arts, culture and placemaking, including the foundation’s arts mastery initiatives, which bring year-round, rigorous, mastery-based programs in theater, music, and visual arts to over 3,000 underserved children annually. Over the last several years, she has also played a key role in strengthening the foundation’s work in social impact and mission-related investing, economic and workforce development, and sustainability initiatives. 

Prior to joining the foundation, Lillian was the Executive Director of Cleveland Public Art. Lillian is a licensed architect in Ohio and a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-accredited professional. She earned a Master of Architecture in Urban Design from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Kent State University. She currently serves as the Vice Chair of the City of Cleveland’s Planning Commission.