Institute for Foundation Board Leaders and Chief Executives 2026

Leonard Raley, AGB Senior Consultant and Senior Fellow

Leonard Raley is president and CEO emeritus of the University System of Maryland Foundation, Inc. (USMF) and vice chancellor emeritus for advancement for the University System of Maryland (USM), where he served for twenty years. He was responsible for the oversight and investment of more than $2.5 billion in assets under management on behalf of 11 institutions within the USM and five Maryland community college foundations, and for providing leadership in support of USM’s fundraising efforts. Working with a board of 48 members, Raley helped guide the USMF to engage in best governing practices for nonprofit institutionally related foundations. Prior to the USM, Raley served as executive director of the Ohio University Foundation and vice president for university advancement at Ohio University, and before that worked in institutional advancement at the University of Maryland College Park, and at Towson University.  He is an experienced foundation executive with 45 years of demonstrated history working in public higher education. He is skilled in institutionally related foundations, private philanthropy, capital campaigns, board assessment, strategic planning, and higher education leadership.

Raley earned his BS degree from Towson University and his MBA from the University of Baltimore. He is past vice chair and treasurer for the State of Maryland’s Marketing Partnership Board of Directors, past chair of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s National Committee on Institutionally Related Foundations, past board chair of the Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber, and past board chair of St. Mary’s Ryken High School, an independent school in Maryland.

George P. Watt, Jr., AGB Senior Consultant and Senior Fellow

George P. Watt Jr. joined AGB as a Senior Fellow in June 2017, with a focus on AGB’s support of institutionally related foundations and their respective boards. In this role, he assists and advises on programs, research, and membership offerings in support of the work of public university foundation boards, including AGB’s annual Foundation Leadership Forum. He also serves as a faculty member of AGB’s Institute for Foundation Leaders and as a Membership Ambassador to the IRF member sector. In his role as an AGB Senior Consultant, he has conducted multiple virtual and on-site workshops and retreats focused on enhancing foundation board governance and institution-foundation partnership and alignment.

Prior to joining AGB, Watt served as executive vice president of institutional advancement at the College of Charleston and executive director of the College of Charleston Foundation. In this joint role, he led an executive team and two volunteer boards in a comprehensive advancement strategy that included alumni relations, university development, annual fund programs, advancement services, and institutional funds management. The College of Charleston completed its largest and most comprehensive fundraising campaign in its 247-year history in June 2016.

Watt came to the College of Charleston from the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association and the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation, where—as the joint president and chief executive officer—he led the two organizations in substantial increases in alumni membership and member services as well as growth in net assets, unrestricted reserves, and private donations in support of the Naval Academy. During his nearly nine years at the helm, the Naval Academy Foundation raised just over $300 million in support of margin of excellence programs and new privately funded facilities. Prior to the Naval Academy, Watt held executive positions with First Union Corporation’s Enterprise Solutions Group and IBM Consulting Group’s North American Financial Services practice.

Watt has been active for many years in the nonprofit and education communities, serving on multiple volunteer boards for United Way, arts and sciences organizations, and churches in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. He is currently an Athletic and Scholarship Program trustee with the Naval Academy Foundation and serves on the board of directors of the South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston and the Friends of the Library Board at the College of Charleston.

Before joining IBM, Watt was an officer in the U.S. Navy, having received his commission at the United States Naval Academy in June 1973. Upon leaving the Navy in late 1980, he affiliated with the Naval Air Reserve, retiring with the rank of captain in July 1995.