Phyllis “Seven” Harris brings over 25 years of nonprofit experience in program management, fundraising, and executive leadership. A longtime advocate for Cleveland’s LGBTQ+ community, she has served as Executive Director of the LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland since 2012, leading the organization through transformational growth. Under her leadership, the Center expanded programming for youth, families, and seniors; launched the annual Pride in the CLE festival in 2015; and, in 2019, opened a new, state-of-the-art facility in Gordon Square to better serve the community.

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Previously, Ms. Harris directed a major capital campaign for the Cleveland Sight Center, served as Vice President of Programs for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Cleveland, and led youth initiatives at Planned Parenthood of Northeast Ohio. She has also served on numerous local and national boards, including the Women of Color Foundation, Assembly for the Arts, the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, and CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers.

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Her leadership and impact have been widely recognized. She is a recipient of the Cleveland Foundation’s Homer C. Wadsworth Award and the Bruce G. Kriete Award from PFLAG Cleveland, and she was honored by Cleveland Magazine in 2022 as one of “CLE’s 500.” Ms. Harris is a graduate of Leadership Cleveland (Class of 2019) and completed a leadership fellowship with the Arcus Foundation. She also served as one of six co-chairs of Mayor Justin Bibb’s Transition Team and on the Selection Advisory Panel for the City of Cleveland Community Police Commission.

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Ms. Harris holds a Master’s in Nonprofit Organizations from Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor of Arts from Baldwin Wallace College. She currently serves as the Executive Director of the LGBTQ+Community Center of Greater Cleveland, continuing to champion equity, inclusion, and sustainable growth in Cleveland’s nonprofit and LGBTQ+ communities.