Ray Shackelford

Ray B. Shackelford is passionate about creating equity for the black community and ensuring that future generations are better positioned to be successful.InAugust of 2019 he launched asocial impact & public engagement firm called “Ozark St Consulting”.Ray successfully executed campaigns for the Census and “Get out theVote” at the city, state, and national level in 2020. Since then, he has shifted his firms focus to shaping community informed policy, training adult and youth advocates, continuing civic education for the community, and working with other local entities on how they communicate and engage local residents.Prior to launching his own firm Ray left corporate America to run for Justice of the Peace, Precinct7 Place 2. He was the youngest in the race by a decade, raised $30,000 in 6 weeks, and missed the run-off by 2points.

Ray early on set a strong foundation for his future in social impact work when he attended Morehouse College. He graduated cum laude witha Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration, concentration in Finance. After taking a few years to obtain work experienceRay went on to enroll in aMaster of Business Administration program at University of Houston. He graduated with honors and also obtained a certificate in Business Strategy Consulting.

As a native Houstonian, Ray has always been highly committed to giving back to the community. He has served on a variety of non-profit boards including taking on leadership roles. Ray is currently the Immediate Past President of the National Urban League Young Professionals, where he has been a member for more than 13 years. In addition to non-profit service, he has been nominated twice by the mayor to serve on boards for the city of Houston. Most recently, Ray was appointed to the Houston Housing Finance Corporation. On this board he now works to bring quality affordable housing to the Houston community while developing a pipeline of minority developers. Outside of his board service Ray has also worked to educate the community through serving as a host on radio and tv.

This is just some of the journey that has led him to National Urban Fellows. Over the course of the next 14 months, he hopes to gain formal policy experience that will better equip him to move the needle for his community. Ray is also looking forward to the relationships he will build with his cohort, alumni, and the Georgetown faculty. He wants to better his understanding of how to navigate many of the complex issues that are barriers to achieving equity. Upon completing the programRay will look to significantly grow his impact in the social justice and equity space.