Ellyn Grady
Ellyn Grady retired in 2019 as Senior Vice President of United Way of Central Alabama’s Resource Development Department, a position she held since 2007. She maintained oversight of Major Gifts, Legacy Giving, Hands on Birmingham, and Annual Campaign efforts. In 2017, United Way volunteers successfully raised $38,000,000, adding to her career total of $378,583,862. Prior to this position she was its Senior Vice President of Agency Impact where she led agency relations, allocations, agency review and community impact analysis work.
Ms. Grady served as Executive Director of Girls Incorporated of Central Alabama (a United Way partner), a position she held for seven years. In her career she taught special education, has been a community educator, community planner, and grant writer. She is an advocate for excellence in the human service sector and for the professionals who serve by improving lives and community conditions.
This is her 21st year teaching a master level course in nonprofit management at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Master of Public Administration Program. Among her former students are government and not for profit leaders who lead our communities in mission based advocacy work. She conducts workshops on several management and leadership topics and often assists smaller nonprofits in strategic and business planning, governance assessment and program evaluation design.
In 2012 she was awarded the William S. Roth Outstanding Fundraising Executive and in 2018 was honored with the Alice M. Williams Community Impact Award by the Girl Scouts of North Central Alabama. In 2018, Hands on Birmingham (now United Way Hands on) named their Ignite Nonprofit Volunteer of the Year Award in her honor. She is past president of the Local Chapter of ASPA, the Council of United Way Executive Directors, a past President of The Women’s Network; a member of Leadership Birmingham class of 2001, a former board member of The Rotary Club of Birmingham and the Children’s Policy Council. She is a member of the Cathedral Church of the Advent and serves on the altar guild. She holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from UAB and was elected to Pi Alpha Alpha, the academic society. Her undergraduate degree is in theatre and speech from Furman University. Her four grandchildren are exceptional and her two children and their spouses are surviving parenthood.
