Press Release: Susan Neth to Retire, FrontLine Seeking CEO
March 14, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Carly Haufe, Associate Director of Development || FrontLine Service Carly.haufe@frontlineservice.org
FrontLine Service joins our Chief Executive Officer, Susan Neth, in announcing her planned retirement from the agency effective August 18, 2025. Thanks to support from The Cleveland Foundation, the agency has retained national executive search firm Waverly Partners and is actively seeking qualified candidates.
Susan Neth joined FrontLine Service in 1988, the year the agency was founded, shortly after earning her social work license. Serving as one of the agency’s first case managers, Ms. Neth helped to pilot a new, innovative approach to outreach for individuals experiencing homelessness who were unable to connect to services independently. Throughout her 37-year tenure with the agency, Ms. Neth took on a variety of roles to help expand community services for this population: Systems Director (1991), Director of Community Support (1993), Director of Homeless Services (1999), Director of Community Development (2002), and Chief Operating Officer (2006). Since becoming CEO in 2008, Ms. Neth has drawn on her years of experience to ensure that services are delivered in a way that honors every individual’s story. Under her direction, FrontLine continues to innovate service delivery and use a trauma-informed lens to fulfill the agency’s mission to reach out to adults and children in Northeast Ohio to end homelessness, prevent suicide, resolve behavioral health crises, and overcome trauma.
“I have had the incredible experience of ‘growing up’ with FrontLine for over three decades, moving with the agency through the ebbs and flows that accompany growth and change. I have worked alongside so many remarkable people who have brought their own spirit of help and compassion to our work and those we serve. My time here of service and of stewardship has been nothing short of an honor, and I know FrontLine and the outstanding individuals who work here or support us in so many other ways, will continue to touch the lives of those in need for many years to come.” — Susan Neth, CEO FrontLine Service
ABOUT FRONTLINE SERVICE: Since its founding in 1988, FrontLine Service (“FrontLine”) has been a private, non-profit organization dedicated to ending homelessness, preventing suicide, resolving behavioral health crises, and helping individuals overcome trauma. Serving over 21,000 adults and children across Northeast Ohio, FrontLine focuses on reaching those with the highest barriers to care, including individuals who are homeless, severely mentally ill, witnesses to violence or in psychiatric crisis. With a philosophy centered on bringing essential services directly to those in need, the organization works tirelessly to provide immediate support and long-term solutions for the most vulnerable members of the community. By integrating expertise with empathy, FrontLine Service is a leader in transforming lives, breaking cycles of homelessness and crisis, and fostering long-term resilience within the community.