Ralph M. Paige

Ralph M. Paige is executive director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund (Federation/LAF). He has played a major role in creating cooperatives encompassing credit unions, agricultural, housing and worker cooperatives and alternative agricultural development for minority farmers.

Initially, Mr. Paige worked as a field organizer developing cooperatives among family farmers and rural residents in Georgia and throughout the South. He led measures to secure new public and private resources to support cooperative development, and in the 1970s, he served as director of the Federation's Business Development Office. From 1977-1981, Mr. Paige served as director of the Federation's VISTA project involving over 100 volunteers at 60 cooperative and credit union sites. He then became the national field director of the Federation/LAF.

During his leadership, the Federation has received the Martin Luther King, Jr., Humanitarian Award; a United Nations award for significant contribution of shelter to the poorer segments of the community; and the first Fannie Mae “Excellence in Low Income Housing Development Award.”

In 2004, Mr. Paige was inducted into the Cooperative Hall of Fame. He currently serves as a member of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Advisory Council at the University of Georgia.

Mr. Paige studied extensively at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received his bachelor's degree in education from Fort Valley State University in Georgia.

Mr. Paige is a board member of Nationwide, one of the largest diversified insurance and financial services companies in the world. He was elected to the boards in April 1999. He also serves on the boards of other Nationwide companies.