Real West Virginian of the Week: Stacie Dei — Investing in the people who build West Virginia

By Hannah Yost, RealWV

WHEELING, W.Va. — When Stacie Dei talks about the future of West Virginia, she doesn’t begin with buildings, businesses, or economic development.

She begins with people.

“I just want good, kind, courageous people to make it through all this,” Dei said.

It’s a simple statement, but one that has guided nearly 25 years of work helping nonprofit leaders, educators, community organizations, and rural communities across the Mountain State.

Whether she’s mentoring an executive director through a difficult decision, connecting organizations with new partners, or coaching an emerging leader who simply needs someone in their corner, Dei has built a career around one belief: when you strengthen the people doing the work, entire communities become stronger.

Born and raised in Wheeling, Dei spent 22 years leading the Marshall County Family Resource Network before launching Grow West Virginia and the Appalachian Innovation Collective. While her career has always centered on serving communities, she said her passion gradually shifted from helping people directly to supporting those who spend their lives helping others.

“I loved helping the helper,” Dei said. “That’s where I found my best work.”

She described nonprofit leadership as one of the loneliest jobs a person can have.

Leaders carry the weight of employees, board members, funding challenges, and community needs, often with few people they can speak openly with. Through coaching, strategic planning, leadership development, and mentorship, Dei has become the trusted voice many leaders turn to when facing difficult decisions.

“You don’t feel so alone,” she said.

Her leadership philosophy wasn’t shaped by one mentor, but by many.

Looking back, Dei said people throughout her career repeatedly welcomed her into rooms where she was often the youngest person present, giving her opportunities to contribute long before she felt fully qualified.

“There were so many people who said, ‘Welcome. Have a seat,'” she said. “I try to do that, too.”

Today, she hopes to create those same opportunities for others.

Through the Appalachian Innovation Collective and programs like the Mountain State Leadership Lab, Dei has worked alongside leaders representing more than 60 organizations across West Virginia. While each organization faces unique challenges, she said the common thread is relationships.

“I really haven’t done anything by myself,” Dei said. “I’ve always thought, ‘How do we help each other?'”

Rather than viewing organizations as competitors, she sees them as partners traveling the same road.

“We can all stay in our lanes, but we’re all going in the same direction,” she said. “We’re still working toward the same things.”

That collaborative mindset has become one of Dei’s defining characteristics.

Throughout her career, she has connected nonprofits with funders, introduced organizations to one another, written grants that benefited multiple community groups, and celebrated the success of others just as enthusiastically as her own.

“I never received less for sharing,” she said.

For Dei, one of the greatest rewards comes years later, when someone she once mentored reaches a goal they had only dreamed about.

“When they get the grant, start the program, lead the team, or accomplish what they set out to do, that’s amazing,” she said. “They did the work. I just got to be part of the journey.”

Despite her optimism, Dei was candid about the challenges facing West Virginia.

After decades working alongside nonprofit organizations, educators, and community leaders, she has watched the people doing some of the state’s most important work repeatedly asked to do more with fewer resources. She said the systems meant to support communities have steadily placed greater burdens on the very people trying to hold them together.

“They strangle us and then they blame us for dying,” Dei said, reflecting on what she sees as the pressures facing schools, nonprofits, healthcare providers, and other community organizations across the state.

Even so, she refuses to let those realities define West Virginia’s future.

“I see the challenges, I see the opportunities, and I see a future for West Virginia,” she said.

She encouraged young West Virginians not to underestimate the opportunities that exist right here at home.

Instead of waiting for the perfect career, Dei said success comes from saying yes, following through, raising your hand, and embracing opportunities that may lead somewhere unexpected.

“If you say you’re going to do it, you’ve got to do it,” she said. “Take every opportunity, and it will become unlimited.”

Looking back, Dei said she hopes people don’t remember her simply for the organizations she founded or the programs she created.

Instead, she hopes they remember someone who believed deeply in the people willing to do the hard work.

“I really do care about the issues first,” Dei said. “I care about the people who show up to do the hard stuff.”

For Stacie Dei, building stronger communities has never been about one person leading the way.

It’s about making sure others have the confidence, support, and opportunity to lead alongside her.