SBP Announces Key Leadership Appointment: Leigh Thorpe Joins as Chief of Advancement

In May 2026, Leigh Thorpe joined the leadership team of SBP as its inaugural Chief Advancement Officer. SBP is a national nonprofit helping communities reduce the time between disaster and recovery by rebuilding homes and strengthening long-term resilience. In this role, she oversees the organization’s development, communications, marketing, and volunteer engagement divisions.

Thorpe previously served as Vice President of Partnerships and Advancement for the National Urban League, headquartered in New York City and one of the nation’s oldest civil rights organizations, where she was responsible for the procurement and retention of philanthropic investments from the country’s most socially-conscious corporations and foundations.

Prior to this work, Thorpe served as Associate Vice President of Annual Giving and Membership at the National WWII Museum, managing four teams within the organization’s Institutional Advancement department focused on individual giving and engagement, special events, and the sale of tribute products on campus. She also served as Senior Vice President of Resource Development and Marketing for United Way of Southeast Louisiana, overseeing all fundraising, events, marketing, and volunteer activities across a seven-parish region.

She has been the Board Chair and Development Chair of several nonprofit organizations in the greater New Orleans area, and has also trained board members on leadership, governance, and fundraising — using this experience to thoughtfully and successfully mobilize nonprofit staff and volunteer leaders.

“Leigh Thorpe has spent more than two decades investing in this city and the people who make it strong. Now she brings that same commitment to SBP. As our first-ever Chief Advancement Officer, she will lead our fundraising, marketing and service engagement efforts, building the partnerships and philanthropic investment that allow us to reach more communities, rebuild more homes, and strengthen resilience across the country. We are excited to have her on the team,” says Carol Markowitz, Chief Executive Officer, SBP.

Thorpe is a graduate of Loyola University New Orleans, for which she also served as President of the school’s alumni association, and was a 2021-2022 Fellow of the American Express® Social Justice Leadership Institute.

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ABOUT SBP

SBP is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping communities to shrink the time between disaster and recovery by rebuilding homes, increasing resilience, and improving systems to better serve all Americans. Founded in 2006 in response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, to date, SBP has built more than 6,700 homes in 16 communities in the U.S. and The Bahamas. For more information, please visit SBP’s website: sbpusa.org.

Media contact:
Pia Orense
Director of Communications
[email protected]
(562) 899-1616