Leslie is Senior Director, Peacebuilding at Humanity United. In this role, she leads the Peacebuilding team’s learning approach across the focus areas and supports team members and partners in setting up learning activities and cross-partner engagements. She has co-created learning processes with organizations at all levels, bridging local to national to global perspectives. Leslie also leads HU’s Colombia engagement, working with a networked group of 17 peacebuilding organizations and initiatives.
Prior to HU, Leslie was Senior Advisor on Mercy Corps’ Program Performance & Quality team where she worked closely with field teams on setting up good monitoring systems and evaluation activities. Prior to that role, she was the Peacebuilding Adviser at Mercy Corps, supporting country teams on the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of various peacebuilding and conflict management programs in diverse contexts like Central African Republic, Colombia, Guatemala, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Myanmar, and Yemen. She led her team’s work on developing robust MEL tools for programs implemented in conflict-affected areas and provided technical support on conflict sensitivity, reconciliation, peacebuilding M&E and conflict analysis.
Leslie holds a master’s degree in conflict resolution from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s degree in peace and conflict studies from University of California-Berkeley. She grew up in Bogota and Medellin, Colombia. Leslie speaks Spanish, French, and Arabic. Living in DC with her husband and her two kids Eliana and Remy, Leslie enjoys running, drawing and sketching whenever possible.