Leighanne Soden serves as President of West Cancer Foundation, where she leads the organization’s fundraising and development, operations, marketing, and community engagement to advance its mission of breaking barriers to cancer care for adult patients across the Mid-South.

Prior to joining West Cancer Foundation, Leighanne spent many years with the American Cancer Society, where she successfully directed a $9 million capital campaign to build Harrah’s Hope Lodge in Memphis. During that time, she met Dr. Lee Schwartzberg and witnessed firsthand the extraordinary care being provided to adult cancer patients in Memphis—an experience that ultimately helped shape the vision and growth of West Cancer Foundation.

Losing her father to cancer in 2018 deepened Leighanne’s commitment to this work, transforming her professional calling into a deeply personal mission to expand access to care, support patients and families, and advance cancer research and education in the region.

Leighanne earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Alabama in Huntsville and a Master of Arts in Communications from the University of Arkansas. She is a past president of the Rotary Club of Memphis East, a Paul Harris Fellow, and the recipient of an American Cancer Society award recognizing the largest single gift in the Memphis area.

She is married to Jack Soden and lives in Germantown, Tennessee.