Leslie has been working with non-profit organizations and their senior management teams for more than 30 years. Leslie practiced law for 20 years, representing health care providers, public transportation agencies, and other mission-based organizations.  In 2005, Leslie left her law partnership, to head BRIC, a leading New York City cultural organization. While at BRIC, Leslie led a successful effort to develop and fund BRIC Arts | Media House, a major new arts and media venue in the Brooklyn Cultural District; to raise the profile and heighten the impact of BRIC’s work; and to ensure that BRIC achieved its mission to make great art and independent media free and welcoming on a large scale, as well as to meaningfully support and reflect Brooklyn artists and media-makers.  Under Leslie’s leadership, BRIC’s media programs in particular grew exponentially.

A few months after leaving BRIC, Leslie began to explore the field of interim non-profit management.  In January 2019, Leslie became Interim CEO of Inspirica:  From Homeless to Home, a Stamford CT organization dedicated to ending the cycle of homelessness.  In November 2019, Leslie stepped in as Interim Executive Director of the Design Trust for Public Space, an incubator of projects designed to unlock the potential of NYC’s shared spaces.  She considers interim work a great privilege and joy – to her, it’s a lot like travelling as it involves exploring new worlds and figuring out what they have and don’t have in common with each other and continually meeting new people and learning new fields.  She is particularly thrilled to be back in the arts as she begins with Story Collider.

Leslie graduated from Brandeis University and Harvard Law School.