Ms. Leeds’ lifelong commitment and work has been to expand access to economic, civic, and social opportunities for all Americans and has consistently fought to increase the participation, visibility and leadership of women in politics and government. She served as a political appointee to President Clinton from 1994 to 2000 and was the Issues Director at the White House Office on Women’s Initiatives and Outreach for four of those years. There she played a significant role in numerous global initiatives relating to the status of women — U.S. follow-up to the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women, US Delegation to the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, Council of Women World Leaders, 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Human Rights Declaration, CEDAW (Convention to End Discrimination Against Women) and International Women’s Day Commemorations.

Ms. Leeds’ most notable public policy accomplishments in the Clinton administration include: raising the national childhood immunization rate to 90% for the President’s Child Immunization Initiative at the Department of Health and Human Services, implementing the National Voter Registration Act, “Motor Voter” in the WIC, Food Stamps and AFDC programs at the Department of Agriculture, and building the public private partnership that significantly increased youth training and employment for the President’s Youth Opportunity Movement at the Department of Labor. She is also credited with building presidential and congressional support for pay equity, Title X family planning, Title IX affirmative action, paid family and medical leave, reproductive rights and health, and domestic violence and sexual harassment protections.

From 2001 to 2005 Ms. Leeds continued her international human rights work as a member of the Harvard Women’s Leadership Board delegation to Egypt, Senior Consultant to the Inter-American Commission on Women at the Organization of American States, and Senior Fellow on Women and Iraq Reconstruction at GlobalSecurity.org. In 1997, Black Women United recognized her as Most Admired Person for her contribution to advancing the international agenda of women of color.

During the 2004 presidential primary, Ms. Leeds served as National Co-Chair of Women for Kerry, taking a lead in the creation and management of Women’s Voices on the Trail (WVOT), the national women’s outreach, education, and vote program for Senator John Kerry. WVOT coordinated with all aspects of the campaign to ensure that the concerns of women were fully integrated into policy, message, and strategy. Ms. Leeds has advised other presidential campaigns on women’s vote — Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Michael Dukakis, Jesse Jackson and Walter Mondale.

In connection with the 2004 election cycle, Ms. Leeds saw an opportunity to encourage young women to become political leaders. She organized a collaboration with the National Council of Women’s Organizations, Lifetime Television, Lesley University and Barnard College to create and produce the Young Women’s Leadership Conference ’04 (YWLC ’04). Coinciding with the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, the YWLC ’04 prepared 500 young women to become effective leaders inspiring women across the country to register, take a stand on the issues and vote.

As one of the nation’s leading advocates for election law reform and voting rights, Ms. Leeds led many successful campaigns to expand access to voter participation. She developed state and federal strategies including government executive action, legislative reform, litigation, ballot initiatives, coalition building and grassroots organizing. Ms. Leeds’ work on voter participation and democracy building began in 1984 when she directed Massachusetts Human SERVE (Human Service Employees Voter Registration and Education Campaign). She then worked for the Massachusetts Committee on Elections Laws, served on the Secretary of State’s Voter Participation Partnership and was Campaign Director for the Voter Registration by Mail ballot initiative. She was recognized for her Outstanding Commitment to Reforming Voter Registration Laws by the Massachusetts Legislature and the Boston City Council.

In 1992, Ms. Leeds organized a nation-wide voter registration and get-out-the-vote program for VOTE NOW ’92, a public charity that funded some of the most effective drives. She played a leadership role in the development and passage of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA), also known as “Motor Voter”. Ms. Leeds served as liaison to the National Motor Voter Coalition for the Clinton-Gore Transition Team, and subsequently directed the Clinton Administration’s government-wide NVRA implementation efforts.

Ms. Leeds is a graduate of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study and Institute for Intellectual Renewal. She is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences and forums, and provides commentary to the press on a broad range of public policy issues.

Ms. Leeds currently serves on the boards of the Bella Abzug Leadership Institute, United for a Fair Economy and Democratic National Committee’s Women’s Leadership Forum.