Our Leadership

Marci Lesko serves as Chief Executive Officer at United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley and is grateful for the opportunity to lead the $30 million organization as it improves lives and strengthens communities every day.

Lesko joined United Way in 2006 and held a variety of leadership positions including Vice President of Community Impact, Executive Vice President, Chief Impact Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Corporate Secretary. She assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer in June 2024.

A nationally recognized leader in Collective Impact with a graduate degree in organizational leadership, Lesko has an outstanding track record of turning donor investments into lasting results. She has transformed key areas of the organization including impact, grants, data, communications, human resources and technology. She started the highly successful and nationally recognized Community Schools model in the Lehigh Valley, and she developed the results-based investment strategy United Way continues to follow today.

In addition to being a proud member of United Way Tocqueville Society and long-time member of United Way Women United, Lesko serves on several boards and is affiliated with many community improvement efforts such as Board Chair for Pennsylvania’s Family Support Alliance, as Chair of LINC, Board Member of the Century Promise, and as a committee chair of the Concourse Club of Palmerton. Marci is an advocate for suicide prevention across the region.

Lesko has won several distinguished awards for her work, including the Human Relations Commission (2005), The Donley Award for Children’s Advocacy (2016), Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania Take the Lead Award (2017), Community Achievement Award/Woman of Influence Award from Lehigh Valley Business (2018), the PBS39 Fred Rogers Good Neighbor Award (2018) and led United Way to receive the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center Community Leadership Award (2021).

Lesko holds a Bachelor of Science in community health education from Illinois State University (1999) and a Master of Professional Services in organization development and change management from Pennsylvania State University (2022).