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Constance
D. Harper is the Executive Vice President and
Editor of the Cleveland based Call & Post
Newspaper, Which has editions serving the Black
communities throughout Ohio.
"Connie,"
as she is known, is a native Clevelander and a
product of the Cleveland Public School system,
where she began her career in journalism. She
was the editor of both her junior and senior
high school newspapers, the Alexander Hamilton
Federalist and the John Adams Journal. A
graduate of Central State University, she
served as the editor of the college paper and
school yearbook for four years. She did
graduate study at the University of Chicago.
While
teaching in the Cleveland Public Schools, she
was the Teen Editor for the Cleveland Courier,
a subsidiary of the Pittsburgh Courier. She
left her position as a Cleveland schoolteacher
to become the women's editor of the Call &
Post and later became city editor. She was
selected as one of two journalists to complete
a fellowship in urban studies at the
University of Chicago. She remained at the
university briefly to work in the Public
Affairs Department. She returned to Cleveland
to direct the women's committee for Mayor Carl
B. Stokes' re-election campaign.
Her
next stop was Washington, D.C., where she was
public affairs officer for the Leadership
Institute for Community Development, a
government funded program. While in D.C., her
commitment to public service led her to
volunteer for Africare, a nonprofit advocacy
organization for the nations and peoples of
Africa.
Additional
career highlights took her to New York City,
where she became the vice president of Don
King Productions, traveling across the United
States, Canada, the Philippines, Africa and
Europe promoting championship fights.
In
a career of service to her community, Connie
has always volunteered for organizations
working to assist the less fortunate. She is
passionate about her immediate and extended
family, her alma mater Central State and her
sorority, Delta Sigma Theta Inc. In 2003 she
received the Ohio Image-Maker Award at the
Sorority's Statewide Founders Day observance.
She
is also a member of the Greater Cleveland
Delta Foundation Life Development Center. She
personally touches her family, friends and the
public as the author of the popular column
"Constantly Yours," her signature
piece that appears
in the Call & Post.
Her
station in the community has been elevated
numerous times by other organizations who
value her worth: Kaleidoscope Magazine
recognized her as one of the "Women Who
Give Back"; National Sorority of Phi
Delta Kappa, Gamma Rho Chapter, presented her
with their "Good News Award";
Northern Ohio Live magazine named her one of
the most influential women in Northeast Ohio
in 2002; and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Zeta
Omega Chapter, honored her as their Citizen of
the Year in 2001; Eta Phi Beta Sorority
presented her its Community Service Award. The
Southern Christian Leadership Conference,
Cleveland Chapter, and the Cleveland Municipal
School District have also recognized her value
with honors.
She
is a member of Olivet Institutional Baptist
Church, where she serves in a number of
ministries. She is
the vice president for governmental
affairs on the Vocational Guidance Service's
board of directors. VGS helps people with
barriers to employment prepare themselves for
a brighter future. She is board member for the
Center for Health Affairs, a hospital trade
association representing 35 hospitals in
Northeast Ohio that works to educate the
public on issues that affect the delivery of
health care and also serves on the local Urban
League board.
Ms.
Harper is a graduate of the 2004 Leadership
Cleveland Class.
Ms
Harper is the publisher of
“Who’s Who in Black Cleveland”
that was unveiled in 2004. In March of 2005
she was selected as the Woman of Vision by the
Cleveland Chapter of the Coalition of 100
Black Women.
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