Steve Leahy

Steve Leahy is Washington State Director of America’s Edge, a membership organization of business leaders whose mission is to strengthen businesses and the economy through proven investments in children. Prior to America's Edge, Leahy served as president and CEO of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce from late-2001 to mid-2009. He led its regional development and business advocacy initiatives and grew its scope, membership, and financial strength. For many years, he served as the Chamber’s executive vice president and senior vice president of public affairs and operations. In the 1980’s, Leahy served as the founding director of Leadership Tomorrow, a highly-regarded community leadership program in metro Seattle. He also helped create and served as executive director of Business Volunteers for the Arts which provided business consulting services to local nonprofit arts and cultural organizations. He began his post-college career as a high school English and journalism teacher in Oak Lawn, Illinois and Dearborn, Michigan.

Leahy is active in various community and professional organizations, including United Way of King County, Children’s Music Foundation, and Lake Washington Schools Foundation. During his chamber career, he served as vice chair of the American Chamber of Commerce Executives Association, on the Executive Committee of the Association of Washington Business, and on the boards of Leadership Tomorrow, the Seattle Sports Commission, Enterprise Seattle, and the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle.

He received his MBA from the University of Puget Sound; a master's degree in English from the University of Notre Dame; and his BA from Lewis University in the Chicago area.