Jenna Ray | Deputy Executive Director, Chief Impact Officer
She/her/hers
A North Dakota native and Midwesterner at heart, Jenna is a coach-style strategic leader with 20 years’ experience in nonprofit mission and program delivery, strategic visioning and planning, fundraising and communications, board governance and management, and workplace culture building. Since 2003 Jenna has served community organizations of all sizes addressing the childcare crisis, rural resilience, animal welfare, gender equity, Native sovereignty, civic engagement, environmental stewardship, and public education. Prior to joining GiveMN in 2022, Jenna served in program, communications, fundraising and leadership roles at the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center, UMN Morris, West Central Initiative, Minnesota Upstream, and more.
Jenna holds a BA in theatre arts, English, and multicultural studies from the University of Minnesota Morris and a Certificate in Fundraising Management from The Fund Raising School, Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. She's currently pursuing a MA in organizational leadership at St. Catherine University.
Jenna’s fundraising superpower is building relationships based on shared purpose and celebration. Alongside caring and generous people like you, she's raised tens of millions of dollars for causes close to her heart, on campaigns ranging from $300 to more than $31 million.
Jenna is a member of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana, with family ties to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. Her greatest hope is to be a good relative.
An everyday philanthropist, Jenna recently relocated from rural western Minnesota to Saint Paul, where she lives with her husband and son. Together, they spend a lot of time outside chasing their golden lab, Ziibi.
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