Thrive names Leah Ferguson as new leader

The board of directors and staff of Thrive Asheville are proud to announce the appointment of Leah Ferguson, DrPH as the nonprofit’s new Executive Director.

With more than 20 years of experience living and working locally, Dr. Ferguson is well-versed in the issues and challenges facing Asheville and Buncombe County. She has earned a reputation for effective strategic facilitation and meaningful civic engagement. Her deep connections with local and regional leaders, public officials and myriad stakeholders have helped her build influential partnerships across diverse constituencies.

Prior to joining the Thrive team, she served as the Director of Evaluation at the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, where she led multi-million-dollar initiatives focused on community-based solutions and supported high-performing collaboratives dedicated to equity and participatory practices. Dr. Ferguson's extensive background includes coaching place-based teams in rural communities, developing collaborative governance processes, and facilitating collective impact initiatives across the United States. 

She holds a Doctor of Public Health degree from East Tennessee State University, a Masters from the University of Texas at Austin, and is a 2025 Collective+Mind Fellow. 

“With her strong skillset and commitment to the people and places of Asheville and Buncombe County, Leah is the right leader at the right time for Thrive,” said Kim McGuire, chair of Thrive’s board of directors. “Leah’s communication skills, research expertise and deeply-rooted relationships make her well qualified to advance Thrive’s mission. We’re fortunate to have this proven consensus builder and problem solver leading our organization in support of our community.”

Founded in 2019, Thrive Asheville is dedicated to working on the most pressing issues facing the community and creating a sustainable, equitable, and prosperous future built upon resilience – a vision that aligns ideally with Leah’s professional history.

“I am honored to serve my community through Thrive’s work of collaborating across differences at the intersection of people, place, and policy,” Dr. Ferguson said. “The work that Thrive has done in such a relatively short period of time is exceptional and the opportunity to build on that foundation is both exciting and humbling.”