Jack Leslie is former Chairman of Weber Shandwick, a leading global communications network that delivers next-generation solutions to brands, businesses and organizations in major markets around the world. A strategic communications executive, political consultant and international development activist, Jack brings a long track record of helping clients integrate global political, economic, cultural and communication trends to create innovative, forward-looking strategy and plans. Some of the companies he has counseled include American Airlines, Bank of America, GE, HP, Johnson & Johnson, MasterCard, Merck & Co, Microsoft, Nestle, Novartis, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, Siemens and Unilever.
Jack was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2003 to serve on the Board of Directors of the US African Development Foundation. He was named Chairman of the USADF Board by President Barack Obama in 2009, and was re-confirmed for the position by the U.S. Senate in 2016. He was also appointed to the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa in 2016. Jack is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member and former Chairman of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid, member of Duke Global Health Institute’s Board of Advisors and of the Ron Brown Scholar Program. He is also Chairman of the board of directors for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatrics AIDS Foundation, a member of the Water.org Board, a member of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation Board, a trustee of the Circumnavigators Foundation, and former Chairman of the Board of USA for UNHCR (the UN refugee agency).
Jack began his career as an aide to Senator Edward Kennedy, serving as his political director and as Executive Director of the Fund for a Democratic Majority. He joined Sawyer Miller Group, a prominent political consulting firm, in 1983 and became president of the company in 1985. During the 1980’s and 1990’s, Jack provided political counsel to dozens of presidential and statewide campaigns in the United States, Latin America, Asia and Africa.
Jack is a graduate of the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
