Leah Ankeny, MA
Education Marketing Manager

As Manager of Education Marketing at Facing the Future, Leah leads the development and creation of the organization’s marketing and communication efforts. Leah has spent the last 20 years working in non-profit education and arts organizations across the US. At Committee for Children, an international violence prevention and Social Emotional Learning educational non-profit organization, she created and led their marketing data analysis plan. She also spearheaded electronic promotion efforts, served as marketing project manager for the IT team and developed and taught account management training for the client services, outreach and marketing departments. Leah was the founder and director of Issues Improv, a social issues and prevention improvisation company that partnered with schools, teen centers and rehabilitation facilities helping Washington State students to strengthen student problem-solving and decision-making skills. Her company received numerous grants and commendations from educator, parent, prevention and healthcare groups.

Before joining Facing the Future, Leah managed the training department for the technology services non-profit organization, NPower Northwest, where she oversaw educational consulting and technology training for dozens of staff, volunteers and board members from over 100 non-profits, as well as teaching and authoring numerous new courses, including social media training. During her tenure, NPower training was awarded grants by The Adobe Foundation, the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program (BTOP) Communities Connect Network and Microsoft Community Affairs. Leah has served as the Vice President of the Board of Directors for the University District Services Providers Alliance (UDSPA), as a database and research volunteer with the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, Inc. (CARE), and she was a scholarship recipient for The Bridge, the Seattle Works program for non-profit and government board service.

Teaching Experience
Leah has worked in the Michigan public school system as a teacher of English and social studies, as well as a supervisor working with teen peer-educators. Her for-profit teaching background includes work as a business development and client services trainer for sales and marketing professionals for the Education Management Corporation (EDMC) and ITT Corporation. She has taught educational theater development and performance, improvisation and acting. As a Seattle Repertory Theater teaching artist, she directed a program for at-risk teens with which she created an award-wining, drug abuse prevention educational video used throughout the Seattle Public Schools system. She has also taught playwriting and directed the New Plays festival at Henry Ford Community College, which featured two of her original plays.

Global Perspective
Leah has traveled throughout Europe and Australia, to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and, most recently, to Egypt. She was an actor-in-residence with The Theater Company on the Greek island of Spetses, and then toured Greek cities performing an adaptation of Aristophanes “The Birds.”

Education
Leah holds a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from the University of Detroit-Mercy, and a Bachelor of Arts from St. John’s College “great books” program, where she studied the original texts of the classics of literature, philosophy, theology, political science, economics and history.