Leading the way

Nonprofit Board Executive of the Year Award

To really look at the list of organizations to which Thomas J. Scanlon lends his time will leave you speechless. Not simply because the list includes nearly two dozen professional and charitable affiliations but because of the depth of service he provides to each one.

Scanlon, a founding and managing partner of local law firm Collins & Scanlon LLP, isn’t just a member of these organizations, he’s also a leader for many of them.

He’s been described as someone who “unselfishly brings leadership to so many nonprofit (organizations) while generously giving his time, expertise and financial support.” Many respect him as a role model and for his enthusiasm for service. Scanlon doesn’t see service as a burden but as a call to duty and a way of life.

His energy, dedication, sense of urgency and vision have left a footprint on the Cleveland community by helping those in the realm of education, cultural heritage, the arts, health and providing for the needy.

Among his efforts in recent years, has been providing leadership to the Cleveland Pops Orchestra as it restructured its board, paid off long-standing debt and moved toward a positive bottom line. As a West Side Ecumenical Ministry board member, Scanlon gave counsel and pro bono legal work to help the agency save hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In his 18 years as a local board member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, he’s served as chairman of every committee and previously sat on the society’s national board of directors. And, as he has with many organizations, he’s helped the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law increase its financial resources.

Scanlon also serves multiple organizations that celebrate Irish heritage and raise money to give back to the community, such as the Irish American Archives Society, Mayo Society of Greater Cleveland and Irish American Charitable Foundation, the latter two of which he is a founder.

One of his annual projects, which he has hosted for more than 30 years, is a St. Patrick’s Day party that honors prominent public figures from Ireland like the former Minister of Foreign Affairs and the former Mayor of Dublin. The event has created, with much pride, an international connection between Cleveland and Ireland.

How to reach: Collins & Scanlon LLP, (216) 696-0022 or http://www.collins-scanlon.com/