Menninger Staff
Ashleigh Hughes, CFRE
Vice President of Philanthropy
Chief Development Officer
With more than two decades of experience at the intersection of advocacy, fundraising, and board development, Ashleigh Hughes joined The Menninger Clinic in 2025 with a proven track record of scaling organizations and building high-performing, mission-driven teams.
A Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE), Ashleigh has secured more than $300 million in private funding and is known for establishing robust philanthropy programs in complex, multi-tiered environments. Her strategic leadership consistently drives growth, sustainability, and donor engagement.
Before joining Menninger, Ashleigh served as Managing Director of Resource Development for Boys & Girls Clubs of America, supporting a national movement serving 3.3 million youth annually across more than 5,200 Clubs worldwide. As Vice President of Development and Marketing at Partnership With Native Americans (PWNA), she launched an integrated moves management program that diversified revenue streams and achieved historic fundraising results.
At Goodwill Industries of Dallas, Inc., Ashleigh built the organization’s first in-house development department and endowment to support employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities and barriers to work. She also served The Army Distaff Foundation, developing a continuum of care for America’s service members and their families—an effort recognized by Washingtonian as one of the “50 Most Innovative Nonprofits.”
Ashleigh’s early leadership included tenure at the Institute for the Study of War, where she served as Managing Director and Director of Development, co-authoring The Surge: The Untold Story, which received the 2010 Military Channel Award, GI Film Festival Award, and Special Jury Award, and as lead Development Officer for a $86 million campaign to build Phase II of the National Museum of the Marine Corps.
She has also worked as a Research Analyst for the Presbyterian Clergy Project on Human Rights and for U.S. Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX) in Washington, D.C. Her professional affiliations include the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, BoardSource, the National Association of Professional Women, and the National Organization for Women. In 2007, Ashleigh was honored with the Good Samaritan Award of Johnson County, Texas.