A native of Colorado, Leslie L. Juniel is passionate about making positive contributions to the community. She is a part of a large family whose history and legacy are deeply rooted in the Denver community, and knows she has an obligation to leave the world a better place than how she found it.

In her professional life, Leslie is Senior Program Manager of Equity Initiatives on the Culture, Equity and Leadership Team in Denver Public Schools, where she has been employed for 10 years. She currently leads the implementation of the African-American Equity Task Force recommendations and other equity initiatives. Prior to this role, Leslie was Manager of Training and Employee Development on the same team.

Leslie is an alumna of Denver Public Schools and is proud to represent five generations of DPS attendees and graduates! Leslie has also worked for INROADS, Inc., the Rocky Mountain News, YouthBiz, Inc., Girls Incorporated of Metro Denver, Girls Scouts Mile Hi Council and the Colorado Marrow Donor Program at Bonfils Blood Center.

Leslie participates in many community programs and events. She is an alumna of INROADS, Inc., the African- American Leadership Institute, Leadership Denver and Future Black Women Leaders of Colorado, Center for Progressive Leadership, and is past president of the Foundation for the Next Frontier. Leslie led the ‘re-birth’ of the annual Juneteenth Celebrations in Denver from 2008 to 2011. She previously sat on the board of directors of Colorado High School Charter and Colorado Black Women for Political Action.

Leslie believes her greatest community contribution to date has been creator and coordinator of the Sistah Pride Girls’ Empowerment Program, an annual, state-wide program hosted by the African-American Leadership Institute, which brought women and girls together to dialogue about education, careers, and making smart life choices and decisions. She continues to live her passion of working with youth by mentoring students in DPS.

Leslie enjoys public speaking and has volunteered her time to support several non-profit organizations as their emcee and/or the keynote speaker. These organizations include: Family Tree, Friends First, INROADS, Colorado Mentoring Summit and the Overcomer Women’s Empowerment Conference.

She also volunteers her time to facilitate personal and professional adult learning and training for organizations including Ready, Set, College, Denver Technical Professionals, Friends First, INROADS, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Colorado Association of School Nurses, Denver Quality After-School Connection and the National School Nutrition Association.

Leslie studied journalism at Colorado State University, she holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of Colorado at Denver and a Master of Science degree in Organization Leadership from Regis University.

Nothing is more important to Leslie than her large, close knit family. Her greatest life accomplishment is being the proud mother of one daughter, and grandmother to her grandson and two granddaughters.