About Leslie
Before launching Collective Clarity, Leslie served as the Senior VP of Community Building for United Way of East Central Iowa. She was a visionary leader and successful intrapreneur. She led teams focused on designing and implementing innovative solutions to human challenges. Projects included collaborative care coordination networks, leadership development programs for underrepresented people, and disaster response and recovery coalitions.
For more than a decade Leslie has focused on learning how to better understand how complex systems operated and how they could be influenced to achieve healthier outcomes. This required the ability to work in the spaces “in between”, to sense emerging forces, and to identify and connect key stakeholders. She has demonstrated strengths in building inclusive networks to achieve collaborative community solutions.
Leslie brings a “sense-making” and data driven mindset to her work. Experience as a corporate buyer, business analyst and nonprofit community researcher resulted in highly developed skills in trend spotting and data synthesis. These essential skills contribute to powerful environmental scans and priority setting results.
Leslie has been a speaker and trainer for the United Way Worldwide network, a facilitator and trainer in organizational development and performance improvement, and a strategic planning consultant.
Training & Certifications
Technology of Participation, Facilitation
Futurist Camp, Strategic Foresight Training
NewBoCo, Intrapreneur Academy
Purdue Agile Strategy Lab, Strategic Doing
Center for Creative Leadership, Community Coalition Leadership Program
Pacific Institute, Investment in Excellence and 21 Keys
Diversity Focus and United Way of East Central Iowa Leadership Development Program in
Organizational Cultural Competence Training and Consultation
Compasspoint, Institute for Nonprofit Consulting, San Francisco, CA
Certificate in Nonprofit Consulting
BoardSource - Advanced Professional Development for Nonprofit Governance Consultants
St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
Master of Arts Human Development – Transformational Leadership
Certificate in Community, Spirituality and Work
Coaches Training Institute, Certificate in Advanced Training
Carleton College, Bachelor of Arts, Psychology