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Reed Shafer-Ray

Reed Shafer-Ray

Founder & CEO, Mountaintop International; nonprofit leader

Washington, District of Columbia, United States
guidestar+1
Norman, Oklahoma, United States
stanford
Joined November 2025
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Mountaintop

Summary

Founder and nonprofit builder focused on reversing 'brain drain' by investing in locally rooted leaders. Reed founded Mountaintop to place exceptional early‑career leaders into paid fellowships with locally led organizations in lower‑income countries, combining placements with mentorship, grants, and an intensive leadership institute. mountaintop+1
Early career organizer and operator who co‑founded and helped scale Lead For America. At Harvard and subsequently with LFA, Reed focused on creating fellowship pipelines that enable talented young people to pursue civic careers in their home communities rather than migrating to large cities or the private sector. stanford+1
Public‑service advocate, writer, and campus leader. As an undergraduate Reed wrote opinion columns for The Harvard Crimson and organized public‑service mobilization (e.g., Lobby Day); his college activism included policy advocacy on gun‑safety measures following a personal tragedy. thecrimson+1
Selected as a Knight‑Hennessy Scholar and pursuing an MBA at Stanford, signaling a focus on building organizational capacity and scaling impact through business and leadership training. stanford+1

Work

Education

Projects

Writing

The Gates of Integrity: The Ethics of Exclusion at Harvard and Beyond (series)

July 1, 2018

A longer-form Medium series exploring ethics and exclusion, derived from undergraduate research and thesis interests.

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“Even Science Has Blind Spots”

January 1, 2018

Opinion piece discussing limits and biases in the way math and science are used in social contexts.

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“The Tragedy of Selling Out”

November 1, 2017

Opinion column about why Harvard students often abandon public‑service goals for higher‑paying private‑sector roles, and how institutional incentives shape career choices.

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Hobbies

Public speaking and mentoring (engages in panels, mentorship series, podcasts) aspireleaders+1