October 4, 2022 — Cleveland — This afternoon, the Mayor’s Appointments Committee introduced and approved recommended candidates for two vacancies on the Cleveland City Planning Commission. Pending approval from Cleveland City Council, Erika L. Anthony and Marika Shiori-Clark will be appointed to three-year terms on the commission.
“We are in the midst of exciting developments across our city—from embarking on the first ever overarching strategic plan for the city’s parks, rec centers and green spaces, to our vision for Cleveland’s lakefront,” said Mayor Justin M. Bibb. “Erika and Marika are both experienced and passionate about this work and I am delighted to announce their appointments.”
The Cleveland City Planning Commission is a body of seven members, six appointed by the Mayor and one member of City Council. The multi-disciplinary commission includes professional planners, architects and civically engaged leaders.
The City Charter gives the commission responsibility for preparing plans to guide the development and improvement of the city and its neighborhoods, and for reviewing all legislation and other matters that concern the use or development of land.
“Mayor Bibb has appointed two incredible women leaders to join the Planning Commission. Erika is strategic, wise, and has perspective both as a resident of Old Brooklyn and as a community development professional,” said Cleveland Director of Planning Joyce P. Huang. “And Marika has traveled the world working on projects to address human health, poverty reduction, and creative placemaking – all experiences she will bring to her commission service.”
More about the appointees:
Marika Shiori-Clark is dedicated to creating social impact through design. Through her design consulting firm, SOSHL Studio, she works with nonprofits and foundations to find innovative solutions that benefit communities. She also works on neighborhood development and creative placemaking. She and her partner developed the Hingetown part of Ohio City.
From 2007 to 2010, Marika was co-founder and managing director of MASS Design Group and was a lead designer on the Butaro District Hospital in northern Rwanda in collaboration with Partners In Health. For this project, Marika and the team focused their design on reducing the spread of tuberculosis, eliminating interior hallways and designing careful ventilation and circulation systems around the campus. Marika and her colleagues started MASS to address broad issues of global poverty, which were being largely ignored by the architectural community, through a design lens.
In 2011, Marika was a global fellow at the design nonprofit IDEO.org, working on projects in the education, health, and sanitation sectors in the United States and Ghana. Marika has worked extensively on the topic of human-centered design for women and girls and has collaborated with the Nike Foundation to create new programs for adolescent girls in northern Nigeria and Ethiopia.
Marika received her B.A. from Brown University in Urban Studies, and her Master’s in Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Her graduate thesis work under architects Herzog & De Meuron focused on women's use of public space in Cairo, Egypt.
Erika Anthony is the co-founder and executive director of Cleveland VOTES, a nonpartisan, democracy-building and mobilization entity that aims to strengthen civic power for a more informed, participatory, and cohesive community. Prior to that she served as the executive director of the Ohio Transformation Fund and vice president of government relations and strategy for Cleveland Neighborhood Progress.
She has also served as the director of business development at Oriana House Inc., project coordinator for a pilot reentry program at the Centers for Families and Children and held various roles in the legal sector.
Erika has extensive experience in fund development and in pushing for state and local policy change on behalf of multiple organizations, all focused on racial equity and inclusion, civic engagement, and transforming the criminal punishment system.
She sits on several boards in Greater Cleveland, including Cuyahoga County Public Defender Commission, NOACA’s Community Advisory Council, MidTown Cleveland, Inc., and was a former board member of Bike Cleveland. Erika has also served as an adjunct professor teaching policy at Case Western Reserve University Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.
Erika holds a B.S. in psychology from The Pennsylvania State University and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Maxine G. Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University.
