Leslie Rae Harlson

Job title: 
Executive Director
Department: 
Berkeley Discovery
Bio/CV: 

Leslie works on strategy and day-to-day operations for the Discovery Initiative. Before focusing soley on Discovery in 2023, Leslie also worked as a Project/Policy Analyst in the Undergraduate Education Immediate Office since 2015. Prior to joining the Immediate Office, she travelled around the world, recruiting students for Berkeley Summer Sessions and building relationships with partner institutions. Before comoing to Berkeley, Leslie held a variety of roles in the non-profit and higher education sector, including with the DAAD-German Academic Exchange Service, the German government's higher education arm and the Global Philanthropy Forum.  She got her BA in German and International Studies from Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa and her Masters in International Political Economy from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Leslie is originally from Chicagoland and misses those Midwestern summers in a big way. In her non-work hours she spends time with three children and husband and her husband and enjoys all the outdoor fun the Bay Area has to offer.