Dr. Leah Cole’s background includes more than 13 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, communications, and higher education. She has extensive experience in fundraising, organizational turnaround, and strategic planning across nonprofit, corporate, and academic sectors. Leah has been
directly responsible for restoring financial and operational viability, securing new funding streams, and building long-term sustainability through corporate, philanthropic, and government partnerships.

She is currently serving as President of Coach Sam’s Scholars, a Cleveland-based nonprofit dedicated to closing the literacy gap for underserved youth. Recruited in 2024 to lead the turnaround of the organization, Dr. Cole rebuilt financial stability, fundraising capacity, and program infrastructure. Under her leadership, the organization achieved profitability within six months, raised more than $350,000 in new funding, negotiated the first state-level grant partnership in its history, and expanded programming
into new regions.

From 2017 until 2021, Dr. Cole was Manager of Executive Communications at Progressive Insurance, one of the nation’s largest insurers. She was hired to lead executive-level messaging for senior leadership and was responsible for communications reaching hundreds of thousands of consumers annually. While at Progressive, she supervised a team of four, implemented a new CRM system, led department-wide training programs, and introduced systemic process improvements. During her tenure, her unit achieved an 80% improvement in consumer satisfaction scores and was recognized as the fastest-growing communications group within the company.

Before Progressive, Dr. Cole was Communications Director at R Strategy Group, a Cleveland-based public affairs and advocacy firm. She was responsible for developing communications and fundraising strategies for nonprofit and political clients. While in this role, she helped secure donor commitments totaling more than $2,000,000, negotiated partnerships with the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, and supported multiple advocacy campaign launches.

She has also served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Notre Dame College in South Euclid, OH. She created the first three-year strategic plan for the Communications Department, developed a business plan for a new master’s program that received approval, and launched the college’s first student radio club. She also applied Lean Six Sigma methodologies to restructure departmental operations, saving the college $20,000 annually.

Dr. Cole received a Ph.D. in Health Communication from Ohio University, a Master of Arts in Leadership & Communications from Marist College, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Lake Erie College. She is also a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and completed executive training in Fundraising and Development Foundations at the University of California, Davis.