Leslie Draper

Speaker, Coach, Consultant   President of Flourishing Communities Collective   Founder and Board Member of Inspire Academy 

Leslie Draper has a proven track record of educational leadership in complex environments. In response to the educational needs in her own under-resourced community in Indiana, she founded a K-8 public charter school in 2012 and served as the school leader for over a decade until she determined it was the right season to transition the school away from a founder-dependent model, now serving on the board of directors to continue to support and oversee the work. Currently, Leslie is leading the Flourishing Communities Collective, a group of experienced leaders who have come together to mentor and guide others in the work of effective faith-based community development. 

Leslie operates from the perspective that local people understand their needs better than outsiders and have the capacity to identify real solutions. Her work is to listen, ensure all stakeholder voices are considered, and inspire local teams to embrace effective change and move ideas to strategic action. Leslie is a contagious visionary, and when she enters the room, the energy changes. She inspires those around her to believe more is possible, pursue loftier goals, and implement plans of action that make people look back and go, “Wow – we did that! Thanks for pushing us.”   

Leslie’s consulting services focus on:

• Strategic planning 

• Board development

• Organizational start-up

• Getting the right team of people for the contest and task and investing in that team!

• Identifying and adapting curriculum to ensure cultural connection and purposeful work for students

• Routines and rituals that build a student-centered school culture

• Increasing personnel performance through goal-setting and action plans that tackle key priorities and efficient systems of follow up • Budgets & responsible financial management 

Leslie Draper has a master’s degree in educational leadership from Ball State University, a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Taylor University, and has completed post-graduate coursework at Indiana State University. She is a licensed PK-12 building administrator and a licensed secondary English Language Arts teacher in the State of Indiana. She has over 25 years of experience in community development and education in under-resourced communities.