2024-25 Impact + Engagement Report

As we reflect on 2024–25, we are deeply grateful for the support of our  longtime and new supporters, partners, friends and community members.  

We’re especially excited to share this year’s publication in a newly combined format—bringing together our Community Impact Report and Annual Report.  Our goal with this approach is to more holistically communicate CIA’s positive community and economic impact on Northeast Ohio and beyond, highlight the support of our donors, and continue to share the inspiring highlights of our students and community.

On that note, this has been a year of transformation in every sense of the word. The persistent headwinds of demographic shifts, eroding public trust in higher education, heightened regulatory pressures and rapid market disruption in the age of AI remain strong. Yet, these existential challenges have inspired us to innovate, reimagine our value proposition, and evolve our business model to meet the moment—and more importantly, the future.

We achieved historic progress as we entered the public phase of our Transformation Campaign—including securing the largest single gift  in CIA’s history and surpassing our endowment growth goal for student scholarships. We also advanced key strategic initiatives, such as:  

• Implementing a reimagined Board engagement and governance structure
• Launching our first-ever Spring>Summer enrollment pathway to create new, accesible options for students;
• Expanding our student-success and career-readiness initiatives (read more about MOSAIC and Creativity Works on Pages 14–15);
• Entering the soft launch of our new Interactive Media Lab (IML); and
• Beginning work on a new business model for art and design education.

Each of these milestones represents meaningful and transformative change—and the courage to begin.

We also made major strides in our exploration and planning for responsible, ethical AI adoption—an effort that is already elevating CIA’s visibility and relevance locally and nationally. Together, these initiatives are laying the groundwork for continued transformation in our academic programs, campus operations and workforce modernization.

The progress we’ve made this year is already generating transformative results. I invite you to join me in helping CIA reach its next milestones—ensuring the success of our students and our College for generations to come. With only $4 million left to go of our $35 million Transformation Campaign, we know you can help us get there.

With gratitude, 

Kathryn J. Heidemann
President + CEO

Cynthia Prior Gascoigne
Chair, Board of Directors