As Chief Services Officer at JumpStart, Dan Brown leads the organization’s services strategy and execution, helping ensure founders and small business owners across Ohio receive meaningful, high-quality support that drives growth and long-term impact.
Since joining JumpStart in 2023 as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Dan has played a key role in expanding the organization’s entrepreneurial support efforts, most notably through leading JumpStart’s growth into Stark County as Director of Entrepreneurial Services. In that role, he helped establish and strengthen relationships across the region’s economic development and entrepreneurial ecosystem, launched collaborative programming, and built strategic partnerships to support entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the Stark County region.
Before joining JumpStart, Dan co-founded Rust Belt Riders and Tilth Soil, worker-owned social enterprises in Cleveland focused on food waste upcycling and advancing the circular economy. A graduate of JumpStart’s first-ever Impact Program Cohort, his leadership and community impact have earned him recognition as an Echoing Green Global Climate Fellow, an Environmental Leadership Program National Fellow, and Sustainability Advisor on Mayor Bibb’s transition team. He also serves as Board Chair of the Forest City Food Collective, a non-profit organization dedicated to food systems resilience. Prior to launching Rust Belt Riders, Dan held roles with Ohio State University Extension, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, LAND Studio, and Saint Martin de Porres High School.
Dan is a graduate of DePaul University, where he studied Ethics and Community Service Studies.
Ohio’s three largest cities are each building thriving startup ecosystems—but they’re doing it in distinctly different ways. Leaders from Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus compare notes on what’s working, what they can learn from one another, and how stronger connections across the Three C’s could accelerate Ohio’s innovation economy.
