Linda F. R. Omobien, a 16 year veteran of the Akron Board of Education, served as the 2006 President of The Ohio School Boards Association’s (OSBA) Board of Trustees and Executive Committee, as well as the Student Achievement Leadership Team (SALT) of which she is a charter member.  This was the first time a board member from the Akron Board of Education and an urban board member from Northeast Ohio has ever served in this capacity.  She chaired the Legislative Platform Committee and is a member of the Conference Planning Committee and Northeast Region Executive Committee.  Her OSBA honors include several Awards of Achievement and the prestigious Master Board Member award which she earned in 2003.

Mrs. Omobien also has an impressive record of service on the Akron City School Board.  She was board president in 1999, 2003 and 2008. She was also Vice President in 1998, 2002, and 2007.  She has chaired the following committees: Instructional Policy and Student Achievement; Finance; Legislative and Accountability and Long Range Planning.  She also served as the district’s Student Achievement Liaison, and has been the OSBA Delegate Assembly representative and alternate.  She also served on the Joint Board of Review which oversees the school district’s $800mil building project from 2003 to 2008.

Mrs. Omobien has also represented the board on the Summit Education Initiative’s Academic Standards Steering Committee and Partnership Steering Committee; served on committees that met with representatives of the International Baccalaureate Program and the National Science Foundation, and many others.

The veteran board member is active nationally, as well.  She has attended the National School Boards Association’s (NSBA) Annual Conference nearly every year since she was elected to the Akron board.  Additionally, she was invited by NSBA to participate in special group discussions, helped NSBA establish its legislative agenda and has attended Council of Urban Boards of Education (CUBE) conferences and participated in other CUBE events.  She also serves on the Federal Relations Network.

Mrs. Omobien has played a very active role in the community.  She serves on the Governor’s Reading and Literacy Commission; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (Financial Secretary); Junior League of Akron; League of Women Voters; and is a life member of the NAACP.  Past participation includes service on the United Way of Summit County Board of Directors; Leadership Akron Alumni Association Board of Trustees; Summit Federal Credit Union Board of Directors; Akron Community Foundation’s Women Endowment Fund Advisory Board; Western Reserve Girl Scout Council Nominating Committee; and The YWCA Nominating Committee.

Her deep involvement in education and her community have garnered her many awards.  She’s earned the Summit County ESC Educational Leadership Award; United Way of Summit County Outstanding Board Service Award, as well as  United Way of Summit County 80^th Anniversary Outstanding Community Volunteer Award; Coalition of Black Trade Association Outstanding Humanitarian Community Service Award;  Harold K. Stubbs Humanitarian Service Award; and Delta Sigma Theta Community Service Award.  She was also named one of the YWCA’s 100 Outstanding Women of Summit County, as well as a YWCA Woman of Achievement, Western Reserve Girl Scout Council Woman of Distinction, and National Alliance of Black School Educators Outstanding School Board Member.

Service has been a hallmark of her professional career, too.   Mrs. Omobien is a mental health administrator at Community Support Services, Inc. where she has worked for 21 years.  She also has her own consulting business, Omobien & Associates, Inc.  Several years ago, she and a group of mental health professionals started The African American Counseling Team (AKA: The Minority Behavior Health Group) under Rev. Jeffrey Dennis’ leadership.

Mrs. Omobien moved to Ohio in 1974 from Pascagoula, MS to seek employment opportunities, and found work and met the man who would become her husband, Edward O. Omobien, to whom she’s been married for 32 years.  She earned her bachelor’s degree in May, 1974 from Alcorn State University, and her master’s degree from The University of Akron in May, 1988 in Community Counseling.  She is a doctoral candidate at The University of Akron as well.  She is also a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor, and a Licensed Social Worker.  She also graduated from Leadership Akron in 1991.