CEO, Cleveland Avenue at Cleveland Avenue · Joined 2015
View Live Interactive Profile →Don Thompson is CEO and founder of Cleveland Avenue, LLC, the Chicago investment firm he founded in 2015 with his wife Liz Thompson. Before Cleveland Avenue he spent over 25 years at McDonald's, departing after running the company as President and CEO. Cleveland Avenue's Schedule 13D on Presto Automation Inc. identifies him as "the sole manager of CA LLC", the entity that is the sole member of the fund's general partner, Cleveland Avenue GP II, LLC. He is named as an executive officer on the Form D filings of both Cleveland Avenue Food & Beverage Fund II, LP and the Cleveland Avenue State Treasurers Urban Success Fund, LP. His name appears in the 2026 proxy statements of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (filed 17 April 2026) and Northern Trust Corporation (filed 11 March 2026), both of which also reference Cleveland Avenue. His firm bio additionally lists current directorships at Northwestern Memorial HealthCare and BIA, a Latin American food company, and involvement with Footprint, and former directorships at Beyond Meat, Exelon and McDonald's Corporation; those are not recorded here because no issuer filing confirming them was read. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University and an Honorary Doctorate in Science from Excelsior College, and is a Trustee of The Cleveland Avenue Foundation for Education.