Valerie F. Leonard

About Me

Valerie F. Leonard works with community-based organizations to improve their internal board and management systems so that they may effect positive changes in the lives of their clients and surrounding communities.  Her client base is diverse, and includes After School Matters, a Chicago-based youth mentoring and apprenticeship program; Greater Chicago Food Depository, (“Chicago’s Food Bank”) that addresses hunger through food banking and technical assistance; Habilitative Systems, Inc. (HSI),  a provider of social services and affordable housing serving the needs  of senior citizens, the developmentally-disabled and ex-offenders; and the University of Illinois-Great Cities Institute, which sponsors research, service, and educational programs aimed at improving the quality of life of people living in Chicago. You may read more about her clients and services in the client list and her statement of qualifications.

Valerie was born and raised in North Lawndale, a changing community on Chicago’s West Side, where she still resides.  She has observed and experienced, first hand, some of the various issues that many of her own clients have addressed–both personally and professionally.  At the same time, Valerie has worked in positions that have allowed her to view complex organizations from the top down, as well as emerging grassroots organizations.

An advocate by nature, Valerie is very engaged in the civic affairs of her community.  One might call her an “activist consultant”.   Indeed, she has co-founded a local community association and worked with a number of organizations to advocate for equity in funding for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP).  NSP is a federally- funded program that provides capital for developers to acquire abandoned foreclosed properties and renovate them for affordable housing units.  Valerie has also worked with local residents to develop a website to track the local TIFs impacting the neighborhood; built coalitions to conduct town hall meetings to educate local residents on the State of Illinois’ redistricting process and written a number of articles for community based newspapers highlighting issues such as education,  a commentary on the State’s capital budget, and the impact of the Olympics upon the North Lawndale community.  Valerie also publishes In the Loop, an online newsletter providing articles announcements and resources to nonprofit practitioners.  She is the moderator for The Job Exchange bulletin board, which serves as a clearing house for job-seekers and employers; Staying  in the Loop Blog, and Policy on the Ground, a blog that she created to show how complex government policies impact our everyday lives.

In an effort to “be the change she would like to see”, Valerie recently ran for Alderman of Chicago’s 24th Ward, where she created a comprehensive platform outlining the key issues identified by the voters and to highlight the need for holistic community development and capacity building.  She held a series of town hall meetings highlighting such issues as education, job creation and economic development, affordable housing, healthcare, technology and leadership development.  In so doing, she conducted public opinion polls, talked with local residents and consulted with experts from local non-profit organizations and other stakeholders who would be directly impacted by policy decisions.  While Valerie didn’t win the race, she framed the issues, and some of her ideas are being implemented by the current Alderman.  She is applying lessons learned to her consulting practice.

Prior to starting her consulting practice, Valerie held a number of positions in the public, private and nonprofit sectors. She

• Spearheaded the spin-off of a community-based grant making organization from a family foundation, became its founding executive director and coordinated the planning and development of the North Lawndale African Garden
• Managed site planning and development activities for certain Jewel and Osco stores in Chicago and the six Collar Counties
• Assisted the Senior Vice President of Finance in coordinating financings in excess of $100 million for construction, renovation and major capital equipment purchases for Mount Sinai Health System
• Developed winning strategies for New York City’s $6 billion general obligation bond program

Valerie has a bachelor of arts degree in economics from Spelman College, and a master of management degree in finance and marketing from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Valerie counts her parents, Theodis and Essie Leonard, as her greatest role models.  They instilled within her a healthy love for God, family, community and education.  The two most salient lessons       Valerie learned from her parents are:  1)  Get as much education as you can, because, once you have it, no one can take it away; and 2) You can’t run away to the suburbs to get away from North Lawndale’s problems.  A better approach is to build the community where you live, rather than moving to another place, hoping the community will build you.  These lessons helped to frame the core values and approaches Valerie uses in her work. She uses asset-based community development techniques to work collaboratively with her clients to identify key issues, develop a plan of attack and to transfer knowledge to the organization so that they may institutionalize the learning for future reference.

If you would like to work with a consultant who can navigate complex systems, but yet has an appreciation for issues surrounding organizational and community change, contact Valerie at 773-521-3137 or consulting@valeriefleonard.com.

Statement of Qualifications-11!17!11