Leslie Puth has spent her professional career in financial services, first in the investment banking sector and more recently working in the field of financial inclusion. She has also been deeply involved with various community-based and arts organizations in New York City.
Leslie worked for eleven years in trading and sales for several global financial institutions; the last several years were spent managing the NY-based sales desk at a French investment bank. By the early 90’s, Leslie and husband David had been living in Brooklyn for several years, where they were raising their two young children. At this point, Leslie decided to leave the banking sector and actively engage with several non-profit organizations in Brooklyn. This allowed her to spend more time with David and their growing family of three children, and to focus on issues about which she cared passionately, including poverty alleviation, education for all, and public parks.
She spent over 15 years working in this sector as an active volunteer with several organizations in various capacities, including as a fundraiser and board member. In 2008, with a new home base in Boston thanks to David’s professional career and their youngest child in high school, Leslie decided to explore earning a master’s degree at the Fletcher School. This was driven by her desire to pivot to a 3rd career and focus on microfinance and financial inclusion. She floated this idea to Sherman, who was highly encouraging and introduced her to the Dean of the Fletcher School, Stephen Bosworth. The rest is history, as they say! Leslie earned her degree at Fletcher in 2011 and worked for over eight years as a Senior Director at Accion, a global non-profit that advances financial inclusion. She also joined Fletcher’s board of advisors in 2012 and currently serves as chair of that board. Leslie has also stayed very connected to her love of art and her love for Brooklyn, having served since 2008 on the Brooklyn Museum Board of Trustee and as a founding member of AllinBklyn, a giving circle that provides funding to small nonprofits in Brooklyn.
Leslie holds a Master’s degree in development economics from the Fletcher School, an MBA from NYU Stern School, and a BA in economics and French from Wellesley College.