Biography  

Professional
Vice President- Community Development, Keybank 2001-Present
Underwriting Officer – Community Development, Keybank 1998-2003
Relationship Manager, Small Business Lending, JP Morgan Chase (Bank One)
Senior Credit Analyst, Middle Market Lending, JP Morgan Chase (Bank One)

Education
Cleveland State University – Master of Business Administration – Finance
Southern Illinois University – Bachelor of Science

Military Service
United State Air Force  1984-1987

Bio
Bedford Heights Ward 3 Councilman Alton Tinker has been a resident for 16 years.  He  resides on Sunset Drive with his wife Lynnette and they have two children in the Bedford School System, Justin (8) and Jaylyn (4).

Professionally, Councilman Alton Tinker is Vice President and Underwriting Officer for Keybank's Community Development Underwriting Group.  He makes credit decisions on community development loans.  He has held this position since February 1998.

Prior to his position at Keybank, Councilman Tinker was a Senior Credit Analyst and Relationship Manager for Bank One (JP Morgan Chase) middle market lending group.

In 2003, Alton Tinker was elected to serve the residents of Ward 3 on City Council in the City of Bedford Heights, Ohio. He was re-elected to a second term in November 2007.   Alton Tinker has been a big advocate of economic development and maintaining the City’s housing stock.   During his first two years on City Council, Councilman Tinker served as chairman of the Building and Housing Committee.  Councilman Alton Tinker currently serves as the chairperson of the Economic Development Committee.  Councilman Tinker is also currently a member of the Community Life Committee, Legislative and Education Committee and Infrastructure and Capital Improvement Committee. 

In 2006 Councilman Tinker led the effort to bring Primary elections to Bedford Heights because “ the people in our community have a right  to have elected officials who win with more than 50 percent of the vote”. 

Councilman Alton Tinker believes in networking and community involvement.   He is the founder and President of the Society of Urban Professionals (SOUP), a professional networking organization with over 2,500 members (www.thesoupnetwork.com)

Councilman Alton Tinker  serves as the Treasurer of the Board of Trustees for Community Housing Solutions (www.commhousingsolutions.org).  The organization was formerly known as Lutheran Housing Corporation.  The mission of Community Housing Solutions is to assist low to moderate income families to obtain and maintain safe, decent and affordable housing.  Programs provided by Community Housing Solutions include Housing Counseling, Tool Loan and Home Maintenance Training, Home Repair, Elderly Home Repair, Energy Conservation, and new housing construction.  During fiscal year 2007,  more than  67 Bedford Heights residents received housing assistance through the Community Housing Solutions.

Councilman Alton Tinker also serves on the Board of Trustees for Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland  (www.socfdncleveland.org).  The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland work to improve the lives of those most in need with special attention to families, women and children living in poverty. As a faith-based organization, the Foundation extends the values of Jesus Christ through the mission of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine.

Alton Tinker was selected to be a business mentor for the Civic Innovation Lab (www.civicinnovationlab.org), a project funded by the Cleveland Foundation that offers mentorship, training and funding of up to $30,000 for ideas that have a measurable economic impact on the Greater Cleveland community.

Councilman Alton Tinker is also is a former Board member of the Urban League of Greater Cleveland (www.ulcleveland.org).  The mission of the Urban League of Greater Cleveland is to enable African Americans and other minority groups to develop and exercise their full potential on par with other Americans through research, advocacy and provision of services.

Councilman Alton Tinker served as President of the Cleveland Northeast Ohio Chapter of the National Black MBA Association (www.ulcleveland.org) from 2003 to 2006.  During his term, numerous Bedford High School  students participated in the Chapter’s Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) Program, a program designed to expand the cadre of future minority students who enter college through mentoring and coaching, collegiate preparation workshops and scholarship opportunities.  The program also exposes minority youth to business professionals and assist in identifying positive career options.  During his four year term as President of Chapter, he created programs such as the Chapter’s highly acclaimed Leadership Breakfast Series geared toward mid to senior level managers, Senior Level Executive Meet and Greet, Real Estate Investment and Empowerment Group, Mentoring Program, Diversity Career Fair and MBA Internship Program.  Under his leadership the Chapter grew from 82 members to over 300 members. The Chapter’s Corporate Partners grew from two to over 20 Corporate Partners.  Dues to the success and accomplishment of the Chapter under Alton Tinker leadership, the Chapter was recognized by their National Headquarters as Chapter of the Year each of the four years that Alton Tinker served as President (2003-2006).  Alton Tinker became the first Chapter President to lead a Chapter to four consecutive Chapter of the Year Awards.   Under Alton Tinker leadership, the Chapter also received the 2004 and 2005 Consortium of African American Organizations Economic Impact Award. 

Born in  Jamaica Alton moved to the United States at the age of 12. He attended Cleveland Public School through the 9th grade.  Alton graduated at the top of his class at Audubon Junior High School and subsequently received a high school scholarship through the A Better Chance (ABC) Program to attend high school in Appleton, Wisconsin.  Upon graduation from high school, Alton Tinker attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he began to study Engineering.  He left the University of Wisconsin-Madison to serve in the United States Air Force from 1984 to1987.  He then earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Southern Illinois University in 1987.  He went on to earn a  Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree with a concentration in Finance from Cleveland State University in 1994.

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