Dianne Cleaver dedicated nearly half of a century to working in the Kansas City community, with the longest tenure of her career at Swope Health. While here, she learned lots about the healthcare field and gained valuable experience that opened doors to many more prominent positions.
Roots at Swope Health
Cleaver began her Swope Health career in 1980, after a short stint as a case worker and six years as Jackson County’s Director of Special Recreation.
“I was interested in the behavioral health field and familiar with Swope Health from its Model Cities Corporation days,” Cleaver said. “Before I started, Swope Health had received a federal grant and designation as a Community Mental Health Center, which brought in significant expansion and job opportunities.”
In the early 1980s, Cleaver oversaw two behavioral health programs: the Partial Hospital Program, which was a day treatment program, and the Chronic Services Program – a persistent memory program. Eventually, she served as the mental health director for 12 years.
“I managed all the mental health programs that had expanded during my tenure and have continued to expand since I left,” she said. “I also provided outpatient counseling for individual adults with mental health issues.”
Cleaver left her mark at Swope Health by leading programmatic development of three residential treatment programs: Imani House for substance abuse treatment, along with Harris and Franklin Houses for the seriously mentally ill. Swope Community Builders provided physical development for these programs.
“I felt like I was making an impact in the community and addressing important needs where there had been a gap. It was a rewarding, meaningful role and I had an enjoyable experience,” Cleaver said.
The next chapter
After serving at Swope Health for nearly 18 years, Cleaver decided the time had come to pursue new opportunities. She joined Truman Medical Center (now University Health) as director of community development.
“I knew about Truman as a lifelong Kansas Citian and because Swope Health frequently interfaced with them for services. I served in a senior executive capacity for policy and program development. There, I provided leadership on legislative and governmental efforts at the local, state, and federal levels.”
Next, Cleaver worked for then-Governor of Missouri Bob Holden as a senior policy fellow and coordinator of Missouri’s Initiative for Children and Families. She later spent time in various roles at Kansas City Public Schools, including chief administrative officer. In 2005, Cleaver became President of Symmetry Consulting where she provided management consultation for a variety of educational and human service organizations.
“As an independent consultant, I worked with a national organization that focused on high school reform work,” Cleaver said. “That led to me leaving the district and doing my own work for about seven-and-a-half years.”
Career in leadership
In every role, Cleaver developed leadership expertise and eventually joined a community and civic leaders’ group focused on addressing poverty and disinvestment on the east side of Kansas City — two causes close to her heart. That group established the Urban Neighborhood Initiative with a goal of partnering with neighborhoods to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty and historic racial inequities to build healthy neighborhoods.
“After a year around the table with these civic leaders,” Cleaver recalled, “it was decided that we needed to start a new organization dedicated to the east side and I was asked to become the first chief executive officer.”
She spent a decade at Urban Neighborhood Initiative including one year on the planning committee and nine years as the president and CEO.
“We worked with 10 neighborhoods, and we made some positive impact while realizing it’s a long-term process at the same time,” Cleaver said. “I think some of the neighborhoods got stronger. They accomplished some things with our support and their hard work.”
Life after retirement
In 2021, Cleaver decided it was time to retire. While she has more time to travel and spend time with her family, she still stays busy.
“Now, I’m doing more work with my church – I’m a co-leader of one of the organizations within the church. I’m also on a few boards, one of the which is in Washington, D.C.”
While reflecting on her career, Cleaver feels appreciative of her time at Swope Health. Not only did the people she worked with at the health center make her job more enjoyable; she also learned pivotal lessons that helped her throughout her career.
“My time at Swope Health absolutely helped me throughout the rest of my career,” Cleaver said. “That’s where I learned to be an administrator, a supervisor, and how organizations function in the non-profit sector.”