Ricardo Owen Neal, (SSW’99)

Ricardo Neal was born in St. Catherine, Jamaica, and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and currently lives in Baltimore, MD, with his wife and two children. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a Master’s degree in Social Work from the Boston University School of Social Work.

Ricardo Neal is Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of We Will All Rise and Principal and Managing Director for The Propel Agency, LLC., a management and leadership consulting firm.  For nearly 30 years, Ricardo has served in various leadership and governance roles within the education, philanthropic, and advocacy sectors, leading community-change work both nationally and internationally. His expertise in management, fundraising, policy and advocacy, and community activism has been utilized in leadership roles across public institutions and community-based organizations. He has focused his work on representing and advocating for people living in under-resourced communities. Ricardo is widely respected for his management approach and has held various roles throughout his two-and-a-half-decade career.

Ricardo has won numerous awards, including the Boston University School of Social Work’s Hubie Jones Service Alumni Award (2005), the University of Massachusetts Amherst Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumni Service Award (2008), and the District of Columbia Public Education Fund’s Rubenstein Award for Highly Effective School Staff (2017). He is a contributing author to the book, We Be Lovin’ Black Children: Learning to Be Literate About the African Diaspora (Myers Education Press, March 2021). Ricardo served as the commencement speaker for Boston University School of Social Work in 2025.

In his spare time, Ricardo enjoys a healthy early morning run or walk, which affords him time to quiet his mind while also allowing for reflection. Ricardo enjoys spending quality time with his wife and children. When he is not with his family and friends, he actively carves out time for his role as a mentor to the young people with whom he has developed long-lasting relationships over the past 25 years. Ricardo splits his time between Baltimore, MD and Lawrence, MA.