WHEELING — As chief advancement officer of The Linsly School, improving the experience of students is always on Lea Ridenhour’s mind.

While fundraising and alumni engagement are her primary responsibilities, Ridenhour is willing to tackle anything that falls into the category of “advancement.”

Education has always been on Ridenhour’s radar as a career option, even though chief advancement officer was not in her lexicon as a kid. During college and law school, Ridenhour considered the field “many times.”

Part of her interest stems from Ridenhour’s love of working with young people. From babysitting in high school to working as a camp counselor in college, Ridenhour found the impact one can have on young people to be profound.

At Linsly, Ridenhour is able to combine her interest in teaching with another passion: nonprofit work. Since she has always strived to be an active member of the community, Ridenhour holds an extensive resume of volunteer work stretching back to her move to Wheeling in 1996.

Ridenhour has volunteered with the Wheeling Symphony and its Auxiliary and is a past chair of the WSO Board of Directors.

She is a sustainer and past president of the Junior League of Wheeling. Ridenhour has served on the boards of the Black Diamond Girl Scout Council, Russell Nesbitt Services, King’s Daughters Child Care Center and Florence Crittenton.

Ridenhour is also a founding member of the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley’s Women’s Giving Circle.

“I have always enjoyed my work with various nonprofit organizations throughout Wheeling and the region, both as a volunteer and during my time at WesBanco,” Ridenhour said. “Working for a nonprofit gives me the opportunity to combine 20-plus years of experience in law, financial services and nonprofit management into one position.”

With her daughters Eve and Grace Ridenhour attending Linsly, Ridenhour combined her passion for the school and nonprofit work and entered the role of chief advancement officer for the school.

“There are literally hundreds of nonprofit organizations in the Ohio Valley, but if I was going to leave a successful career, I wanted to be able to make a difference for an organization and in a sector that I truly cared about,” she said. “Education and facilitating access to educational options fit that bill.”

During her time at Linsly, Ridenhour has felt the difference she can make by increasing access to education for students.

Through building relationships personally and professionally with alumni, Ridenhour has helped generations of students have the same experience at the school as the alumni who came before them.

“What I love the most is hearing our alumni articulate the impact that Linsly has had on them personally and professionally,” Ridenhour noted. “… Through their generosity, they are sending a clear message that Linsly matters to them.”

Ridenhour realized the importance of building strong relationships in her career after being told “No one is irreplaceable.” While this wasn’t easy for her to hear at the time, she now takes the idea to heart.

“When one believes they are irreplaceable, they lose the humility, the ability to lead with empathy and the ability to appreciate the perspectives and contributions of your team,” she said.

Armed with the simple motto “leave it better than you found it,” Ridenhour strives to continue to improve her relationships, place of employment, organizations she serves and herself as an individual.

“When I consider my relationship with my academic advisees and my work at Linsly, what is always top of mind for me is, ‘Did I add value? Did I make this student’s experience because I was here? Did I improve Linsly for the better during my time here?'” she said.

As a Hanover, Pennsylvania, native Ridenhour is glad to have been “adopted” by Wheeling. In the nearly 28 years Ridenhour has lived in the city, she has developed a network of female friends who are “incredibly supportive of each other, personally and professionally.”

“When I think about the number of women-owned and women-led businesses and how they support each other rather than compete against each other, that’s a bright spot that makes me proud to call the Ohio Valley home,” she said.

Ridenhour believes women play a very visible role in education administration in the valley.

“Gone are the days when every school principal and administrator were male,” she noted. “Female educators and administrators bring a wealth of experience and a diverse perspective to the business of education and our schools are better because of it.”