About Kendra

My name is Kendra Gardiner and I am a current Avon Lake School Board Member. While not originally from Avon Lake, I am married to Charlie Gardiner, a 2005 graduate of Avon Lake High School. We are blessed to have two young boys aged 7 and 5 who currently attend and are thriving at Erieview Elementary school. 

 

I grew up in rural Illinois in a small farming community. As someone who grew up poor in an area with limited employment prospects, I believe I was favorably impacted by access to public education – specifically by having educators who believed in me, nurtured hope in me and provided me access to opportunities greater than I could have ever imagined on my own.

 

This personal experience and my successes to date are what cement my deep passion for education and ensuring it is available and accessible to all. 

 

I moved to Avon Lake in 2010 for a job at Avient Corporation after graduating from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration.

 

After spending 7 years in manufacturing, I made the pivot to economic development in Cleveland when I joined JumpStart, first as a board member and then team member. While there, I tackled issues specific to education and workforce, working closely with the community, the Cleveland Metropolitan school district, Tri-C, Lorain Community College, Cleveland State University and Case Western Reserve University and John Carroll to name a few.

 

Today I still work with many of these same partners but do so in the capacity of the Director of Product Strategy at University Hospitals in the UH Ventures group. In my role, I help cultivate a culture of innovation within the hospital through educational programming and by providing strategic leadership to develop and commercialize new healthcare technologies.