A proven strategist, resourceful nonprofit leader, and dedicated educator, Leslie Donaldson brings more than 25 years of multifaceted arts management and education experience to her work.

Since 2023, she has served as the Director of the Kirk Newman Art School at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, offering more than 500 classes and workshops annually at one of the largest community-based visual arts schools in the country. As Director, Leslie has played a pivotal role in professionalizing the school by steering its strategy and curriculum, building administrative structure and community partnerships, and overseeing studio upgrades focused on safety and student well-being.

Prior to her role at the KIA, Leslie served as an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Master of Arts Management Program at Carnegie Mellon University’s College of Fine Arts and Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, where she designed and taught numerous classes in visual arts management, including public art, creative placemaking, museum operations, exhibition management, and grant writing. While in her role at Carnegie Mellon, she also served as a member of the curriculum development and admissions committees and collaborated with the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation on strategies to elevate diversity, equity, and inclusion in the classroom.

Leslie is a results-driven change agent who has led complex initiatives in creative placemaking, community engagement, and program development. Two of her most significant accomplishments include creating and implementing Michigan’s first-ever regional cultural economic development plan while serving as the Executive Director of the Arts Council of Greater Lansing, and designing Interlochen Center for the Arts’ engagement strategy as Director of Engagement. Her background includes arts leadership positions as the Director of Interlochen Center for the Arts’ College of Creative Arts, where she shifted the college to year-round programming and tripled enrollment, and as Director of Arts Programs for the City of East Lansing, where she led the nationally-ranked East Lansing Art Festival and created (SCENE) Metrospace, the city’s first-ever creative placemaking initiative. In each of her roles, Leslie’s strategic and data-driven efforts have grown engagement and program revenue and have supported countless organizations, individuals, and students in building their own creative opportunities.

As an artist, Donaldson continues to explore her creative practice. Her work is often inspired by local identity, design, found objects, and memory, and is driven by her passion for symbols, systems, and patterns.