“Inclusion isn’t a program you launch. It’s a standard you hold—in every hire, every system, every room where decisions get made.”
As Chief Growth & Innovation Officer, Leah drives program growth and shapes new services, products, and programs—with success defined by both business performance and mission impact. She leads multiple departments, including the Marketing, Customer Experience, Public Relations, Helpline, and the Foundation teams as well as the I AM ABLE programs.
Since joining PRIDE Industries in 2020, Leah has boosted the company’s recognition, transformed its marketing and sales support function, spearheaded the launch of the Customer Experience program, expanded The Michael Ziegler PRIDE Industries Foundation, and launched the I AM ABLE Helpline, a one-of-a-kind employment helpline for people with disabilities, and other barriers to employment, that serves 4,000 people every year. In 2023, she conceived of and launched the I AM ABLE Disability Job Fair, an annual event that brings together job candidates with disabilities and prospective employers. Prior to that, she led the relaunch of the PRIDE Industries website, which subsequently earned a Gold Stevie® Award for its exceptional accessibility ratings.
Leah specializes in creating infrastructure where none existed. Her current focus is the I AM ABLE Innovation Center—a new initiative that harnesses technology to dismantle the systemic barriers that have kept people with disabilities on the margins of the workforce, and to make inclusion not the exception, but the design.
Leah has spent more than two decades launching disruptive solutions and driving growth across global real estate, employee talent solutions, and digital marketing. She’s held Vice President roles at Jones Lang LaSalle; led marketing across the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific at Hudson Global and Hudson RPO; and founded the Americas Employer Branding division while at Hudson RPO—which earned her a company sales award for 30%+ year-over-year growth. She also co-founded a Chicago digital marketing agency that was recognized as Woman-Owned Business of the Year in 2008.
Leah holds an MBA in International Management with Honors from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, a BA in Creative Writing and Spanish from Binghamton University, an “AI for Leaders” certificate from Harvard Business School Online, and is currently completing “The Science of Leadership: The Brain, Resilience, and Mindfulness” through Harvard Medical School Online.
Her commitment to underrepresented communities extends beyond the workplace. She was the founder of FosterCoalition.com, a volunteer-run resource site for foster youth and families that she led for eight years, during which time Leah was honored as an Angel in Adoption by the U.S. Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute.
Leah has been recognized as a 2025 Executive Woman of the Year by NAWBO Sacramento, a 2024 Global Silver Stevie® Social Change Maker of the Year in Disability, a C-Suite Honoree by the Sacramento Business Journal, and a Women in Leadership honoree by Comstock’s Magazine.
