“I’m innately curious,” Ratcliffe said. “I want to know what makes people tick.” 

That instinct, paired with a love for “creating and crafting compelling stories,” made marketing and communications a natural fit. Ratcliffe began her career in newspaper journalism, then moved into publicity and magazine editing, eventually working at Delta Air Lines, where she rose from assistant editor of the employee magazine to general manager of internal communications worldwide. Later, she spent 11 years working for an international childhood cancer nonprofit before joining the YMCA of Western North Carolina.

“The YMCA spoke to me because of its mission to serve all,” Ratcliffe said. “Plus the work we do helps our neighbors.”

Today, Ratcliffe serves as the YMCA of WNC's senior vice president of marketing and engagement, overseeing work that supports virtually every part of the organization. Her team operates like an in-house agency, supporting everything from membership and child care to overnight camp and community health programs. She also works closely with the CEO and senior leadership on strategy.

“No two days are exactly the same,” Ratcliffe said. “So that keeps me on my toes, and it’s never boring. It’s a lot of fun.”

But underneath the variety is a consistent goal: connection.

“The most rewarding part of my job is building meaningful connections with people,” Ratcliffe said. “Whether that’s connecting them to a program or to a resource or to a friend. When people feel seen and they feel heard, real connections are built and the world is better for it. It’s amazing what people will share when you’re genuinely interested. They tell us about their goals, their disappointments, their little victories, their big wins, and they want to be asked.”

At the YMCA, Ratcliffe is particularly proud to support work that reaches beyond the walls of its facilities. Its food access program began 11 years ago as a small effort to address student hunger at an after-school site and has grown to include more than 200 mobile food markets a year. Ratcliffe said the program recently reached a milestone of distributing 2 million pounds of fresh, healthy produce at no charge..

“We are going to people and serving them where the need is greatest,” she said. “That’s really special.”

Ratcliffe said she has learned something from every leader she has worked with — including lessons about what not to do. Despite decades of professional experience, she resists the idea that a leadership title means having all the answers. 

“I lead from my heart and I keep an open mind,” she said. “I don’t know everything, and I learn something new every single day from my colleagues.”

Mentorship has played a role throughout Ratcliffe’s career, sometimes arriving unexpectedly. While in college, she traveled to London through a student work exchange program. A friend suggested she contact his mother for a home-cooked meal. That woman turned out to lead public relations for the National Magazine Company, a division of Hearst Corporation, and offered Ratcliffe a job. What was supposed to be a summer in London became nearly two years and eventually led Ratcliffe to work on the editorial side of the U.K. launch of Esquire magazine.

"She's been a great sounding board over the years, and we're still in touch," Ratcliffe said. “Her kindness and generosity made a huge difference to me.”

That experience gave Ratcliffe a model for how she wanted to treat people entering the workforce behind her.

“I’ve tried to emulate that in the workplace for people who are just getting started in their career,” she said. “If you ask for tips, I’ll be happy to give them to you because people did that for me along the way.”

Another formative leadership lesson came at Delta, after Ratcliffe accidentally sent an employee magazine to press with a prominent typo on the cover. Faced with the costly mistake, a senior executive chose not to berate her. Instead, he shared a story about a similar mistake he had made early in his own career.

“Him extending that grace to me taught me that when you make a mistake, it’s not the end of the world, but you do have to own it,” Ratcliffe said. “You have to make amends. You have to fix it. Most importantly, you have to learn from it and move on.”

Her experience as a woman in the workplace has also influenced how she leads. Ratcliffe said she encountered sexual harassment and misogyny earlier in her career, and becoming a mother brought a form of workplace bias she had not anticipated. When her son was born 19 years ago, she said her bosses assumed she would leave her job. 

“When I became a parent, I was surprised at how I almost had to start over to prove myself as an employee,” she said.

A network of other working mothers proved invaluable as she navigated that period. Ratcliffe sought out women who had been through similar experiences, asking what worked, what did not and how they handled difficult situations. 

“I think in general, in the workplace, having those women and having that network—you have to stick together,” she said. “And it helps you be a better employee, a better leader.”

Outside of work, Ratcliffe makes time for exercise, the outdoors and her family. She works out with a YMCA personal trainer twice a week, hikes to waterfalls with her husband and their dog, Panda, and enjoys live music, travel, and potluck dinner parties on the porch. With their 19-year-old son now in college, she and her husband are also finding more time for new adventures.

As Ratcliffe thinks about the women coming behind her, her advice reflects the lessons that have shaped her own career: seek out relationships, accept help, and then extend it to someone else.

“Take every opportunity to build your network and don’t be shy about asking for advice and mentorship,” Ratcliffe said. “And when someone opens a door for you, say thank you and hold the door for the next woman.”

Learn more at YMCAWNC.org.