MEET HANNAH FRITZMAN BELSITO  (MUPD '11)

Degrees:

• Master of Urban Planning and Development, Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs - Cleveland State University
• B.A., Communications, John Carroll University

Where are you currently residing? 
Lakewood, Ohio

Where are you from? 
Salem, Ohio

Current Employment:

• Position Title: Vice President of Destination Development & Community Affairs
• Place of Employment: Destination Cleveland
• Job Duties: Destination Cleveland is Cleveland's Convention & Visitors Bureau, focused on increasing the number of business and leisure travelers coming to Cleveland. Hannah leads the organization's destination development efforts by working with community partners to enhance the visitor experience and strengthen the destination. These efforts ensure community-wide destination development investments increase and travel-related strategies are connected and aligned. She seeks to continually advance Cleveland as a visitor destination through organizational community engagement strategies.

Volunteer Experience
Board, Cleveland Restoration Society (2013-present); Community Advisory Board, ideastream (2012-present); Council Appointee, Lakewood City Planning Commission (2011-present); Committee Member, LakewoodAlive (2009- 2012); Member, The National Trust for Historic Preservation (2008-present); Member, Cleveland Restoration Society (2008-present); Board, Frontline Services (formerly Mental Health Services) (2007-2013); Mentor, The Rotsky Foundation for Mentors (2005-2013); Interim Board, Engage! Cleveland (2011-2012); Committee Member, Cuyahoga County Equity Committee (2010-2011); Co-Founder, Cleveland ConneXion (2006)

Why did you decide to attend Levin? 
I've always been interested in the connections between people and place. I wanted to learn about how communities have been developed, influenced, impacted, improved, and preserved over time and how I can be part of their future.

How did your experience at Levin influence your career path? 
I knew I wanted to pivot my career path to be even more strategically focused on connecting people to place - but I wanted to the institutional knowledge and historical context to better understand how to make impact. Levin gave me that grounding.

What's your favorite Levin memory? 
It was incredible to learn alongside students and professors that cared as passionately about people and place as me. My favorite memory is of the individuals in my class that I'm seeing make tremendous change in the community I love today. It's an honor to know that I learned alongside them.

What piece of advice do you have for current Levin graduate students?
Ask questions. Challenge status quo. Learn. Engage. Consider how urban planning, design and development impacts the connections between people.

What was the most valuable lesson you learned at Levin?
Many of the social and economic challenges cities face today are the result of urban planning decisions made in the past. We have to work together to ensure we are improve these impacts into the future.