Stacey Wedding
Founder, CEO/Chief Strategist“Philanthropy is giving of yourself to others—whether through financial or in-kind gifts, volunteerism, or the simple act of making someone’s life just a little bit better. A smile, a good deed, a helping hand—all of it creates a ripple effect that feels good for the giver and the receiver.”
Stacey Wedding is the CEO/Chief Strategist at The Stacey Wedding Group, although she much prefers the title of professional do-gooder.
There aren’t many people born and raised in Las Vegas, but there aren’t many people like Stacey Wedding. Service is in her blood. At the age of 5, Stacey began her foray into community service, volunteering and fundraising for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation (now JDRF), where her mom served as the Executive Director. While her own journey with Type 1 diabetes began at the age of 2, she wasn’t trying to find a cure for herself. As she shares, “I felt so helpless seeing so many families with young children who were so scared to give themselves an injection, not to mention just live a normal life. All I wanted was to provide comfort and hope through my own story.”
Stacey credits her mom with teaching her the ins and outs of the nonprofit sector. Regardless of who gets the credit, there is one thing for sure. If you want to know about the nonprofit sector, board governance, or the detailed workings of Las Vegas philanthropy, our clients tell us there is no one better that they would recommend. Clearly, The Stacey Wedding Group’s clients aren’t her only fans. One of the professional accomplishments she is most proud of is her certification from BoardSource as one of their Certified Board Governance Trainers. Stacey is only one of 150 consultants worldwide to receive this esteemed honor and the only consultant in Nevada with this certification.
After working on the executive management team of the Nevada Community Foundation (NCF), Stacey founded The Stacey Wedding Group, a nonprofit management consulting firm, in 2006 to pursue her dream of creating lasting change in our communities, our country, and our world. Sure, it’s an ambitious goal. But it was coming from the ambitious young nonprofit professional who had just helped to grow NCF from $10 million to $30 million.
Stacey graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, “settling” for a summa cum laude designation from the Honors College. She began her career in the Corporate Communications Department of NV Energy (formerly Nevada Power Company), and then moved on to Ballard Communications (a local public relations firm) where she received two prestigious Pinnacle Awards for her work. UNLV was quick to add a vote of confidence, naming her the UNLV 2004 Outstanding Alumnus. Her future was open to many avenues of success, but Stacey has different metrics to measure true accomplishment.
It is not enough to receive awards or hold impressive titles. For Stacey Wedding, success is about the good you do. While she claims her values led her to use that standard, those who know Stacey best suspect she uses it to measure herself because she’s so good at doing good. She dedicates more than her professional life to serving organizations and individuals. One look at her list of volunteer activities will tell you this is more than just her “job.” She currently serves as the Board Chair of the UNLV Honors College Advisory Board and as Board Chair of Wagging Tails Rescue where she and her husband rescued their two fur babies, Foxy and Felicity. She also co-hosts a bi-monthly podcast, Nonprofit Everything, and serves as the Leadership Las Vegas Class of 2003 Class Ambassador. While Stacey can certainly talk the talk, it was of utmost importance that she also walk the walk.
This made Stacey conscientious not only of what she did, but of what her team members did as well. She created a culture with The Stacey Wedding Group, and it’s one where giving back is just a way of life. She and her team members provide more than 250 hours of volunteer service to local charities each year, and The Stacey Wedding Group donates 10% of net revenues annually to charitable organizations.
Stacey might be spending time with her hubby and fur babies, wine tasting, taking an online course, or jumping out of a plane (did we mention she enjoys a thrill?), but you can bet that in anything she does, her mind is always on the good she can provide for those around her.