J. Renay Loper is a Clinical Professor of Organizational Leadership in the Bard MBA in Sustainability, where she stewards the program's core leadership sequence — from personal leadership development to leading change in organizations to building sustainable organizations. She also serves as Adjunct Professor at NYU Wagner's Executive Master of Public Administration program, where she teaches Leadership Confronted. .

Renay brings 25 years of cross-sector experience spanning the public, private, and social sectors, with extended time living and working in Japan and Greece and travel across 40+ countries. Prior to Bard, she served as Vice President of Program Innovation at Pyxera Global, where she incubated the TIE Global Artisans initiative, built partnerships with the UN Conscious Fashion and Lifestyle Network and the Clinton Global Initiative, and led country offices in Ghana, Nigeria, China, Brazil, and Argentina. She also created Rhetoric to Action, a cross-sector conversation series, co-led Inclusive Circular City initiatives, and developed impact strategies for Fortune 500 corporations, including NBCUniversal and Pfizer. Earlier in her career, Renay managed a grant portfolio at the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership, led a semester-long study abroad program in Thessaloniki, Greece for Northeastern University, and built corporate mentoring partnerships at Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Renay is a published author and editor. Her work appears in Breakthroughs in Sustainable Business Education: Change-Makers in Action (Routledge) and People Economics: Defining and Measuring the True Value of Human Capital (Middle Market Press), and she co-edited Student Affairs Professionals Cultivating Campus Climates Inclusive of International Students (Jossey-Bass). She has spoken and facilitated at the United Nations General Assembly, the U.S. Department of State, GreenBiz, Sustainable Brands, VERGE, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.

Renay hosts Through the Noise, a podcast that hosts a different kind of conversation around leadership. She serves on the boards of directors of HATCH, Community Change, and the Obirin Gakuen Foundation of America. Renay holds a Master of Science in Higher Education and Post-Secondary Counseling and a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from West Chester University of Pennsylvania.