Stephanie R. McLemore Bray

Stephanie has 35 years of experience in the non-profit sector, having served local, regional and national organizations and institutions. Her areas of expertise include fundraising, volunteer management, strategic planning, board governance, and program development. She is currently the founder of Touchstone Leadership Group, a consulting and project management firm. From 2021 to 2023, she served as Chief Engagement Officer at Seattle Foundation, a community foundation serving Seattle and King County. Prior to that role, she was President and CEO of United Way California Capital Region. Stephanie has served in executive leadership roles at San Francisco General Hospital Foundation and UC Davis Health System. A graduate of Douglass College, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Stephanie was a participant in Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management in July, 2012. She is currently on the board of the Hurston Wright Foundation, Pacific University’s Masters in Nonprofit Leadership Program’s Advisory Council, Orchid Capital Collective, and Seattle Social Venture Partners. She has lectured on philanthropy at UC David School of Management and Pacific University. 

A writer, Stephanie’s essays and scholarly articles on philanthropy and the Black maternal health crisis have been published in the journal Health Equity, USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, and BlackPersonBirthingJustice.org, and Blavity.com. In 2018, Stephanie founded Black Women Write, a Sacramento-based organization that uplifts and supports Black women writers on the path to publication.