Medical Mutual S.H.A.R.E. Award & Kent Clapp CEO Leadership Award
A. Malachi Mixon III isn’t just the chairman and CEO at Invacare Corp. His dedication to service and philanthropic efforts has spurred his organization’s employees to embrace a sense of giving among themselves and throughout the organization.
While many organizations’ leaders embrace the idea of giving back, when those ideas move their way down and throughout the organization, it becomes truly special. Mixon has done this by leading by example. In addition to graduating from Harvard College for his undergraduate degree and Harvard Business School for his MBA, he also spent four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, attaining the rank of captain. During his time in the military, he earned decorations including the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and Navy Commendation Medal with Combat “V.”
He also graduated from Leadership Cleveland, and he has several current civic activities. He serves as chairman of the board of The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, BioEnterprise Corp. and the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2007, the Cleveland Institute of Music opened Mixon Hall, a state-of-the-art performance hall. He established a chair in entrepreneurial studies at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, and he also serves on the boards of The Sherwin-Williams Co., Park-Ohio Holdings Corp. and Primus Venture Partners.
Mixon is also dedicated to giving back to his alma mater. He serves on the Visiting Committee of Harvard Business School, and he has established a Mixon Scholarship in each new freshman class at Harvard College for students from Oklahoma, his home state, or Northeast Ohio.
While all of his efforts have certainly been appreciated by the organizations affected, his commitment to serving has also affected his company and its employees. Since 1994, Invacare has contributed more than $2.5 million in cash and products to Easter Seals, and employees have also actively embraced the Paralympics and the United Way.
In fact, with employees leading the way, they collectively raised nearly $248,000 in their 2008 campaign, which is more than 8 percent of the entire Lorain County United Way budget for that fiscal year. Of that nearly quarter-of-a-million dollars, a little more than $166,000 came directly from employee contributions, proving not only that Invacare’s employees have embraced Mixon’s ideals, but they’ve made them their own. And through their philanthropic efforts, they are working to make Northeast Ohio a better place to live.
How to reach: Invacare Corp., (440) 329-6000 or www.invacare.com
