Her Story
About Fatimah
Fatimah Harris serves as the Digital Content and Communications Manager in the Mayor's office in Cleveland, Ohio. In this role for the past 10 years, she is responsible for sharing the story of the city and its initiatives under the Cleveland Era agenda to support economic resurgence. Her background is in communications, public relations, social media, and digital marketing. Prior to her current position, she worked at the nonprofit Global Cleveland, where she focused on helping international newcomers integrate into the community through communications and storytelling. Fatimah graduated from Shaker Heights High School and earned a degree in sports management and communications from the University of Cincinnati. One of her notable achievements includes establishing Carl B. Stokes Day in Cleveland to honor the city's first Black mayor and celebrate progress. She attributes her success to growing up as a native Clevelander, which has grounded her and inspired her to give back to her community. Fatimah values being a good person, neighbor, friend, and coworker, and she advises others to be good listeners and to reflect daily on becoming the person they aspire to be.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Fatimah
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to being a native of Cleveland, Ohio. I feel like our city is very unique in the people that live here, and the things that we value, the things that we do that are different from other people in different cities, and I think that growing up as a Clevelander has really shaped me and grounded me and made me want to give back to the city that I grew up in.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Every single morning, look at yourself in the mirror, and the person looking back at you hope that that person reflects the person that you want to be, and that you can wake up every single morning feeling good about the work that you do, the impact that you have in other people's lives, and how you are within this world. It's really important to not only stay true to yourself, but make sure that you're being a kind person, a good person to other people.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Always be a good listener. There's never a point in my career where I felt like I've learned enough. And by just listening to others in the room, whether they are someone who is seasoned in their career, or someone who's just starting out in their career, there's something to learn from everyone.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is the changing media landscape. We are changing the way that we receive information, and even though that is a challenge, I think there's a lot of opportunity to figure out those gaps, and figure out new ways to be the ones to give out this information to whoever your audience is. Social media is a new way of giving information to people. AI has become incorporated into the things that we do daily.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that are most important to me are just being a good person, being a good neighbor, being a good friend, being a good co-worker in every single space possible, because I feel that when you are able to not only pour into yourself, but pour into others, it's like a domino effect, and it pours back into yourself. So I would say just being a kind person is really important.
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