Blake McKinlay is the father of two daughters and the Director of Programs for ZOMALAB, where he leads the philanthropic strategy and ZOMA Foundation. He specializes in designing and executing strategies, financing tools, and cross-sector partnerships that drive lasting community impact.
At ZOMALAB, Blake has helped design and launch initiatives such as Sync Up Colorado, which fosters collaboration across education and workforce systems to create stronger career pathways, and Enduring Earth, a global collaboration to accelerate durable conservation and community economic development at scale.
Blake brings expertise across the spectrum of philanthropic capital, from grants and recoverable grants to program-related and mission-related investments. He has experience mobilizing funding through fiscal sponsors, donor-advised funds, private foundations, and direct investments. His background spans education and workforce development, community economic development, natural resource conservation, energy, and agriculture, reflecting his ability to navigate complex challenges with a systems mindset.
Before joining ZOMALAB, Blake worked for more than a decade at the intersection of strategy, social enterprise, and international development. He was a Manager at Prosono, where he advised nonprofits and social enterprises on strategy and operations, and earlier co-launched a social enterprise and led market-based development initiatives in Africa and Asia with iDE, an international NGO.
Blake holds a B.A. in International Relations and a M.A. in Global Finance, Trade, and Economic Integration from the University of Denver. He is an alumnus of the American Express Leadership Academy and has served on nonprofit boards, including as Secretary of the Board for Elephant Energy.
