Ray B. Shackelford
Vice President, Equitable Justice Strategic Initiatives, National Urban League
Ray B. Shackelford is a Native Houstonian passionate about problem solving to develop transformational solutions that ensure the community is better than he found it. Professionally, he has accumulated diverse work experience spanning education, non-profit, and the private sector working for multiple Fortune 500 companies. This helped to inform his journey as an entrepreneur, when he launched his own consulting firm, Ozark Street, in 2019. His firm provides services related to community education, civic engagement, advocacy, social impact programs, public policy and leadership training. July 2024, Ray took a role as Vice President of Equitable Justice for the National Urban League (NUL), the second oldest and largest civil rights organization in the country.
He is a lifelong Urban Leaguer with more than 20 years in the organization. In his current role he is responsible for managing Reclaim Your Vote, the NULs nonpartisan get out the vote campaign, youth civics education, and local advocacy campaign support for 93 Urban League affiliates. He also is responsible for portfolio areas that include gun violence prevention, extremism, environmental justice, and more.
For the City of Houston, Ray has served on the Houston Housing Finance Corporation and the Independent Police Oversight Board. He has worked to educate the community through various platforms serving as a host on podcasts, radio and tv. All these efforts have been focused on teaching the public about civics and providing actionable steps to make a difference.
He is a lifelong member of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church where he serves on the Social Justice Ministry.
Ray is also a proud member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated. Ray wears a lot of hats, but none is more important to him than the hat of “father.” Ray is the proud father of a fifteen-year-old daughter, Jordan.