Dorris Evans

In the suburb of Newburgh Heights, First Tee of Cleveland is a project in keeping with many of the goals of the Cuyahoga Valley Initiative. First Tee is a national program to teach urban kids golf. The Cleveland chapter now serves hundreds of youth from six Northeast Ohio counties. Set against the backdrop of Arcelor-Mittall's steel mill smokestacks, the 9-hole golf course and driving range was designed as a bird sanctuary with help from the Audubon Society. Director Doris Evans says when neighbors first heard the proposal to turn 63-acres of urban wasteland into a golf course, they weren't sure what to make of it.

Tom Longo

In the city of Garfield Heights, Mayor Tom Longo, Cleveland Metroparks and the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District are working with the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission to turn a former industrial site into new public green space and a recycling center. Longo says redeveloping the old General Chemical site on Warner Road using Clean Ohio funds won't cost the city of Garfield anything. He says it will make it easier to attract new businesses to other properties across the street.

Paul Alsenas

The Cuyahoga Valley Initiative wasn't solely Paul Alsenas' idea, but his passion for the work he does is clear. Working over several years with local partners and Cleveland-based Entrepreneurs for Sustainability and the Rocky Mountain Institute, Alsenas and his team launched a framework for sustainable redevelopment that's unique to the region. Alsenas says the old model of zoning, land use and planning just wasn't working.