Marc S. Byrnes

Marc S. Byrnes is a business and civic leader in Northeast Ohio and career-long visionary in his fields of insurance, holistic risk management and financial services. He is Chairman Emeritus of Oswald Companies where he served as CEO from 1996-2013. Mr. Byrnes joined Oswald when his agency, Marc S. Byrnes and Associates, merged with Oswald in 1987. As part of that merger, Oswald expanded its offerings to include life insurance, employee benefits and retirement plans. With a unique ability to foresee market trends, Mr. Byrnes created two subsidiaries, Oswald Financial (1999) and Oswald Specialty Life (2004) to further enhance the firm’s expertise and resourcefulness. Today, these practices combined with Oswald’s employee benefits division, represent over 60 percent of the firm’s overall revenue.

As a result of Mr. Byrnes’ vision and leadership, Oswald Companies is one of the 50 largest consultative and insurance brokerage insurance firms in the nation. He works tirelessly to sustain the firm’s mission of caring for its clients and employee-owners, today and tomorrow, and its commitment to diversity and inclusion at both the industry and agency level. In 2011, in partnership with Eddie Taylor, Jr., Mr. Byrnes co-founded Taylor Oswald as an entity of Oswald Companies, a minority-owned business enterprise. He has also served as a board member of several minority and women-led organizations and has led several civic campaigns and initiatives in support of the advancement and strategic growth of underserved business segments.

Mr. Byrnes’ life journey set his course of service, leadership and giving. As an infant, he was orphaned and placed in a foster care and adoption program at Bellefaire JCB. He would later go on to serve on Bellefaire’s board of directors, and soon after, fate would unite him with his four full-blooded sisters and brothers, along with his birth mother. As a mark of his lifelong commitment, Oswald Companies and Bellefaire dedicated The Marc S. Byrnes Foster Care and Adoption Wing in September 2013.

Mr. Byrnes graduated from University School in 1972 and went on to receive the Distinguished Alumni of the Year award in 2012. He presently serves as a member of University School’s board of trustees, executive committee and recently chaired the Head of School search committee. He graduated cum laude with highest honors from Williams College where he earned a BA degree in 1976.

A lifelong Northeast Ohio resident, Mr. Byrnes has demonstrated his commitment to community through his continued dedication with United Way of Greater Cleveland, where he served as the immediate past chairman of the board and the Campaign Donor co-chairman in 2007-2008. Additionally, he was the recipient of their Volunteer of the Year Award in 2012.

Mr. Byrnes is also a past board member of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, Teach for America, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Alzheimer’s Association and currently serves on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Board of Trustees. Civically, he has served on the bond issue committees for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Metroparks and acted as transition co-chair for County Executive Armond Budish, where today he is a member of the County’s Economic Commission Council. Mr. Byrnes serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Cleveland Leadership Center and he was president (2012- 2013) of The 50 Club of Cleveland, the city’s largest leading business society. Marc also received the Values-in-Action Foundation’s Gordon E. Heffern Award. As a business leader, he is consistently named among the Top 25 most influential community leaders by Inside Business Magazine. Mr. Byrnes had the honor of being inducted into the Business Hall of Fame in 2016.

An avid runner, cyclist and swimmer, he believes in living a balanced life. Mr. Byrnes credits his wonderful parents, Judy and Larry, and especially his wife, Viki, for their love and incredible support. He and Viki make their home in Hunting Valley and are the proud parents of three sons, Matthew (Eliza), Kyle (Andrea) and Gregory (Erica) and grandchildren, Blaire, Lila , Henry, Annie, Kai, Augie and Quinn.