Cathleen Edgerly

Cathleen Edgerly serves as the Executive Director of the Capital City’s downtown management agency, Downtown Lansing Inc. Cathleen is known as a community connector and leader in downtown advocacy, serving in rural and urban downtowns for the past 14 years. She also has extensive practitioner and presenter experience - sharing the powerful role placemaking has in economic development. Cathleen recently was selected to be a part of a cohort of 20 downtown development professionals from around the country taking part in an intensive week-long fellowship program in NYC, where she earned her Downtown Leadership certificate from the International Downtown Association.

Over the past 4 years, Cathleen and her team in Downtown Lansing have been focusing on ways to innovate and transform Michigan’s Downtown as DLI Prioritizes Lifting Up Local, recruiting and retain businesses in Downtown Lansing that are representative of the entire State of Michigan, fostering more commercial and residential infill development, designing a more accessible and equitable downtown experience where everyone feels they belong, and diving deeper into the needs of residents within the Downtown environment.