Arts & Culture Inclusion Council – Leianne Neff Heppner

Leianne Neff Heppner has worked at the Society since 1999, first serving as curator assisting with exhibits for the city and county, as well as, county government records consultant. She has been the head of the agency since 2009 and looks towards the nonprofit organization’s 100^th anniversary in 2024. Leianne has been a leader in the John Brown House preservation and restoration project including its most recent efforts to make the one-time home of the man who died trying to end slavery to be “Accessible to All.” The Society board reinstated the John Brown Institute Task Force in 2020 to continue sharing the abolitionist’s legacy of commitment to absolute racial equality. 

Leianne holds a Master of Arts in Public History from Kent State University and a Bachelor of Science in Historic Preservation from Southeast Missouri State University.

A transplant to Akron from rural southeast Ohio, Leianne and her family (a number four legged) enjoy living in Akron/Summit County where life is good.