CLEVELAND, Ohio, March 10, 2026 – LAND studio today announced that Keisha González will serve as its next Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer. An experienced civic development and community investment leader, González has helped to lead land use, community engagement and neighborhood work for the past eight years at the Cleveland Foundation.
González succeeds Greg Peckham, who led LAND studio for eight years before becoming president and CEO of the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park. González was selected following a national search conducted by a board-led search committee.
“LAND studio has always been about bringing creativity, design, and community together to shape Cleveland’s public spaces,” said Colette Jones, chair of the LAND studio board of directors. “Keisha brings the civic leadership, partnership mindset, and strategic perspective to build on that legacy and expand our impact across the city.”
“I want to thank our transition committee and our executive search firm, DSG|Koya Partners, for their work leading this search,” Jones said. “I also want to thank LAND CFO Liz Place, who stepped in as interim executive director and provided careful stewardship during this transition, as well as the LAND studio leadership team for sustaining the organization’s forward momentum.”
González most recently served as senior director of social impact investing and innovation at the Cleveland Foundation. In this role, González led strategies aligning philanthropic and investment capital with neighborhood development priorities across Cleveland. She guided grants, loans, and impact investments toward initiatives that strengthen communities, support resident-driven development, and help ensure neighborhood growth expands opportunities for existing residents
Prior to that position, she was a program director for economic and community development and social impact investing and held other roles at the foundation.
Prior to joining the foundation, González worked for four years at the Metro West Community Development Organization, including as managing director. In this role she deepened her commitment to working with residents directly affected by development decisions.
“I have spent my career at the intersection of community development, philanthropy and systems change, and I have come to understand that the work which most inspires me is not simply about improving places – but about shaping the conditions for people to belong, create and thrive within,” González said. “LAND studio’s mission, values and body of work speak directly to that calling.”
A Cleveland native who grew up in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood, González graduated from Cleveland State University with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology. She has a master of arts in historic preservation from the University of Delaware and has served on a number of boards, including as past president of the Young Latino Network board of directors and current service on the boards of the Sculpture Center and Cleveland Development Advisors.
“I believe deeply in Cleveland’s creativity, resilience and unfinished potential,” González said. “I also believe that art, public space and collective imagination are not peripheral to democracy – they are foundational to it. They are how communities see themselves, encounter one another and practice belonging. I can’t wait to get started with LAND studio’s talented team to realize this vision.”
For more than 30 years, LAND studio has worked at the intersection of art, design, and community – transforming Cleveland’s public spaces through creative collaboration. As a connector, convener, and project leader, LAND brings together residents, artists, civic partners, and designers to shape parks, plazas, public art, and neighborhood spaces that reflect Cleveland’s character and identity.
