Meet Your New OCCD Board Members

Maximilian "Max" Upton 

Max Upton is an experienced Urban Planning and Economic Development practitioner holding various positions in the Federal, County, Local, Private and Non-Profit sectors in addition to being a combat Veteran of the Afghanistan war. He currently serves as the Director of Building, Housing and Planning for the City of Lorain, the 10th Largest City in the State of Ohio, where he oversees all of the Planning, Community, and Economic Development activities of the City. Prior to that he served as the Director of Economic Development for MidTown Cleveland Inc., a community and economic development non-profit in Cleveland, Ohio.

Throughout his career, Max has amassed real estate and economic development portfolio in excess of $250 million dollars of real estate projects consisting of office, industrial and multi-family real estate asset classes. In addition to his professional full-time roles Max served as an Adjunct professor at Cleveland State University’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban affairs teaching courses related to economic development finance and issues and problems the local economic development practitioner wrestles with, he also serves on the Board of the Valor Home, a transitional housing non-profit serving homeless Veterans and he was recently nominated to serve on the Executive Board of the Ohio Conference of Community Development.

Emily Carnahan

Emily Carnahan, AICP is the current Interim Community Development Administrator for Hamilton County, Ohio. She has worked in the Community Development Division at Hamilton County for 4 years managing various CDBG and HOME projects and programs. Emily holds a Master’s degree in Community Planning from the University of Cincinnati and is AICP-certified and NDC EDFP-certified. Emily and her fiancée are getting married in February 2022 and have two dogs.