Leah Ray

Leah Ray serves as the Chief Revenue Officer, leading the organization’s revenue-generating programs, with the goal of ensuring every child gets the healthy food they need every day.

Prior to joining Share Our Strength, Leah successfully built sustainable revenue and high-performing development teams for large local and national organizations. Her experience runs the gamut: direct response, mid-level and major individual giving, planned giving, foundations, corporate giving and cause marketing. At Social Capital, Ray served as chief strategist to leading nonprofit and foundations.

Earlier in her career, Leah built and led transformational fundraising teams at Greater Chicago Food Depository, Feeding America and United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. As senior vice president of development for Feeding America, Leah led the organization’s fundraising efforts with corporate partners and major donors and was responsible for significant annual revenue goals.

Leah led external affairs at the Greater Chicago Food Depository, where she grew annual fundraising through the expansion of corporate and foundation partnerships and individual giving. At United Way, Leah led a board task force to reimagine the organization’s positioning of its impact in Chicago’s neighborhoods.

Leah lives in Chicago, IL with her husband and two daughters. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Grinnell College and a master’s certificate in nonprofit management from North Park University.

What’s your “why?” 

No parent should have to look in their children's eyes and explain why there is nothing to eat today. There is enough food, there are people who care deeply about this issue, we just need more collective will and real action to ensure each child can have three meals a day, every day.  On behalf of all the moms and caregivers facing impossible choices, I'm here to help rally the willing and drive action. 

My idea of fun is: Cooking a great big meal for friends and family, trying a new recipe or two along the way, and then squishing around my dining room table to share stories, laugh heartily and thoroughly lose track of time.