Steele Ford

Steele Ford

Chief Advancement Officer

Steele comes to XPRIZE from ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital where he served for 15 years. Beginning in 2021, he led the Relational fundraising team, which combined ALSAC's individual giving and corporate initiatives and included fundraising through major gifts, corporate partnerships, bequests, foundations, employee giving and sports marketing. In this role, Steele was accountable for $950M+ in annual fundraising revenue. During his tenure, ALSAC secured $350M+ in long-term naming commitments, including the largest corporate naming commitment in ALSAC’s history in 2019.

Steele held several senior leadership positions within St. Jude’s, including Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, where he provided vision and strategic direction for a division that grew to $200M+ annually through best-in-class cause marketing campaigns, promotions, sports fundraising, sponsorships, and employee-based initiatives.

Prior to his time at ALSAC/St. Jude, Steele served as Executive Director of Harbor of Health, a primary care clinic and wellness center developed in coordination with a national demonstration project for healthcare improvement. During his tenure, Harbor of Health achieved a No. 1 ranking in patient satisfaction by the American Academy of Family Physicians’ prestigious TransforMed program. Steele began his career in sports with the Memphis Redbirds, Triple-A minor league baseball affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, where he advanced to the position of Assistant General Manager. While with the Redbirds, he supervised the baseball and ballpark operations for the team and nationally recognized AutoZone Park.

Steele is a native of Wilson, Arkansas, and graduated with honors from Rhodes College with a Bachelor of Arts in History. He also holds a Master of Science in Sport and Leisure Commerce from the University of Memphis. He is a graduate of the Memphis Leadership Academy, a recipient of the University of Memphis’ “Spirit of Kemmons Wilson” award, the Memphis Business Journal’s “Top 40 under 40” award and is involved in a number of community organizations. He and his wife Megan are the proud parents of two daughters: Merrill and Lydia. Outside of work, Steele enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, golfing, and reading.