Nora Ranney joins the Open Society Foundations with 20 years of experience working for social and economic justice, including leadership in advocacy campaigns, lobbying, grassroots organizing, electoral operations, and public policy development. She has worked at the national level and in Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Washington State. Most recently, she served as the Legislative Director at Progressive States Network, where she advanced state policies that include strong wage standards and workplace freedom, balancing work and family responsibilities, health care for all, smart growth and clean energy, tax and budget reform, clean and fair elections, and bridging the digital divide.
Prior to Progressive States Network, Nora developed and managed national ACLU efforts to pass pro-LGBT state and local laws and defeat anti-gay legislation and ballot initiatives. She has also worked for the late U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone and led public education and advocacy campaigns to improve the lives of low- and moderate-income workers with the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center and United for a Fair Economy. Her prior work helped to pass the nation’s first state legislation linking corporate tax subsidies with accountability and a living wage, in Minnesota, and she has conducted policy analysis in the New York City Council’s Office of the Speaker and served as a community grants program officer with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Ranney is a graduate of Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs (MPA) and the College of St. Catherine (BA, Social Work).