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Robert M. La Follette
School of Public Affairs
1225 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706

Telephone: 608.262.3581
Fax: 608.265.3233

Last updated:
August 18, 2011

Leslie Ann Howard

President, United Way of Dane County
Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Affairs

United Way of Dane County
2059 Atwood Avenue
Madison, WI 53704

Phone: (608) 246-4350
Fax: (608) 246-4349
E-mail:

Leslie Ann Howard is president and chief executive officer of United Way of Dane County. During her tenure as president, the organization has grown from an annual campaign of $5.5 million to more than $16 million and has transformed from a grant-writing agency into an organization that is effectively changing the human condition. Her work with the United Way extends to the Board of Directors of United Way of Wisconsin, as well as the Finance & Audit Committee and chair of the National Professional Council of United Way Worldwide.

An advocate for collaboration and change in the health and human service delivery system, Ms. Howard has spent a lifetime working and volunteering in the nonprofit sector. Her focus has included children; education; health, people with developmental disabilities; housing; neighborhood development; and diversity issues. Recently, Ms. Howard has spearheaded the Schools of Hope Initiative, which focuses on closing the racial achievement gap in Madison’s public schools, and the Dane County Health Council, which is working to provide access to health care for Dane County’s 32,000 uninsured residents.

Ms. Howard has served on the boards of American Family Insurance Group, Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, and Madison Area Technical College.

Ms. Howard was recognized by the Madison Chapter of the American Marketer’s Association as the “Marketer of the Year” and was a “YWCA Women of Distinction.” She was featured in the Wisconsin State Journal’s “Know Your Madisonian,” recognized as one of Madison’s most influential individuals and as one of Dane County’s top executives, and was featured as one of Madison’s “Women on Top,” all by Madison Magazine. Ms. Howard was also named to In Business “Executive Hall of Fame” and Madison Magazine’s “Best in Business.”

She received her undergraduate degree in psychology in 1976 from Lafayette College in Pennsylvania and went on to earn her master’s degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1979.

Curriculum vitae

Course

PA 887 Nonprofit Leadership: spring 2011, spring 2010, spring 2009, spring 2008, spring 2007