AMIS Board Members
Lois Annich, Vice President | Lois Annich is a Professional Certified Coach in the International Coaching Federation who serves leaders in business, healthcare, education, faith communities and non-profits. A graduate of Yale Divinity School, Lois has done post-graduate work at The Gestalt Institute of Cleveland and The Cleveland Center for Cognitive Therapy. She is passionately committed to social justice and civic engagement, a student of healthy cultures and what makes them tick, and a teacher of resilience in the face of great challenges. Her career has been a rich blend of parish ministry, chaplaincy, pastoral counseling, consulting, and coaching.
Gary Benjammin | Gary is a retired attorney and former Magistrate for the City of Cleveland Heights. For over 30 years he practiced in downtown Detroit, Michigan doing civil rights cases including class actions against the City of Detroit and State of Michigan. Gary and his wife, Melody Hart, have 4 children three of whom live in Northeast Ohio and one in New York City. Gary and Melody sponsored a Haitian asylum seeker, Ansly Damus, who has lived with them for one year while he sought asylum. Gary is active in the Greater Cleveland Congregations organization as a member of the Management Team and the Core Team at Trinity Cathedral. He also teaches law at Wayne State University Law School in downtown Detroit.
Jennifer Castellano | Jennifer is a driven and passionate Cleveland community leader with family roots in Puerto Rico. Since 2022, she has served as the Latinx/Hispanic Community Engagement Coordinator for Cleveland’s Neighborhood Family Practice. A graduate of the Cleveland Neighborhood Leadership Development program, Jennifer serves as an executive committee member at Northeast Ohio Association for Hispanic Health (NOAHH). In her former role as Families First Program Coordinator for the Spanish American Committee, Jennifer managed, directed, and led all employment and training services, social services, and educational service programs provided under the Spanish American Committee. Jennifer lives in the city of Brooklyn, Ohio where she is a new homeowner and proud “dog mom.”
Barb Clint, Secretary | Barb Clint is a city planner by training who has worked at the nexus of planning and public health for the past two decades focused on active transportation as a population level physical activity intervention. As a consultant to Bike Cleveland, Barb is specifically working to advance the proposed 60-mile Midway Protected Bike Network in Cleveland. A resident of the North Collinwood neighborhood in Cleveland, Barb is married to Tom Denbow with whom she has raised three adult children: a married daughter in Goa, India, a niece living in Cleveland Heights, and a son in Seattle, WA. Barb is an active member of the Church of the Covenant, serving as a trustee and as moderator for the Ministry of Service through which she is learning about refugee resettlement issues. Her passion project continues to be managing the restoration of her 116-year-old arts and crafts bungalow near Lake Erie.
Sue Dean Dyke | Sue is a community organizer/activist/volunteer. She’s also the founder of Mobilize the Vote NEO. She serves as Census Coordinator for the League of Women Voters Greater Cleveland and is an Immigration Court observer. In 2017/18, she helped organize a petition drive and campaign for Issue 1 to end gerrymandering on behalf of the LWV Greater Cleveland; and, organized and campaigned in Eastern Cuyahoga, Ashtabula, Lake, Mahoning, and Summit counties with Ohio Together and the Betsy Rader for Congress campaign. Sue is a former Field and Operations Human Resources professional in Retail, AgChem Manufacturing and food service. She is a former Board member for Shaker Youth Soccer Association and Board President for Eastside Kickers Soccer Club. Sue is married with two children in college and lives in Cleveland Heights.
Anne Hill, President | Anne has been a resident of Cleveland Hts. for over 20 years and has two adult children, Claire and David Ryder. She served as the Director of Local Government and Community Relations at the MetroHealth system for 5 years prior to retiring at the end of 2015. Prior to working at MetroHealth, she served as Governor Strickland’s Northeast Ohio Regional Director for 4 years. From 1981 to 2006, she worked in the labor movement for 25 years with District 925/SEIU, as an organizer, contract negotiator, political director, and secretary/treasurer. She co-chairs the volunteer organization, Northeast Ohio Friends of Immigrants, and serves as President of the AMIS Board.
Jeff Smith, Treasurer | Jeff is a resident of Cleveland Heights, married to Anne for 55 years. He is the father of seven children and the grandfather of 10, all living in the Cleveland area. Before retiring, he served as the Chief Operating Officer at Mercy Medical Center in Canton. He has been on eight medical missions to the Dominican Republic and three service missions in Haiti. He is active in the community and has served on a number of Boards. In addition to the AMIS Board, he is currently a member of the Y-Haven Advisory Board, which provides housing and drug/alcohol treatment to adults. He is very active at his church, Forest Hill Church Presbyterian, and has held a number of positions as an Elder in different ministries, Clerk of Session, and in the church’s Sanctuary ministry. He is currently a member of the FHC Immigrant Task Force and works for the church’s pantry, providing weekly food to the homeless and economically marginalized.
Megan Meister | is the Community Engagement Coordinator at the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Cleveland Field office. Megan joined the team in January 2023. In her role she supports USCRI’s engagement and outreach efforts to deepen community relationships and build support for newcomers through partnerships, collaboration and education. Megan is a very proud social worker. She moved to Cleveland to attend the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Resource University and is a licensed social worker in the State of Ohio. She has spent 20 years providing service to others through community development, engagement and organizing focused work, most recently serving nine years as Director of Community Engagement with Neighborhood Family Practice (NFP), a refugee healthcare provider and close partner of USCRI. Megan served on the Merrick House board for over 11 years, serving as the immediate past president and currently sits on the executive committee of the Refugee Services Collaborative of Cleveland. She is the proud mom of a wonderful and strong seven-year-old daughter and loves spending time with her family, fur babies and friends.