Lesleyann Samuel is well known to all in the Greater New York Jamaican Diaspora and in particular in the alumni community having served as the President of the Union of Jamaican Alumni Associations (USA) Inc. (UJAA) from 2014 to 2022. During her tenure, UJAA’s membership grew from 32 member organizations to over 60. A leader of vision and passion, she focused on developing the programs of the Union, enhancing Brand-UJAA, establishing UJAA as a stakeholder with various education organizations in Jamaica, including the National Education Inspectorate, enhancing the effectiveness of the member organizations, and collaborating with other alumni umbrella groups around the globe.
With over 30 years of leadership experience in several non-profit organizations, Lesleyann has been active in the alumnae association of her alma mater – Immaculate Conception High School, St. Andrew, Jamaica for several years and currently serves as the Assistant Treasurer of the New York Chapter. She was instrumental in the introduction of robotics as an extracurricular activity at Immaculate in 2012. Under her leadership, UJAA took an active role in robotics for high school students with our involvement in the FIRST® Global Challenge competitions in Washington DC in 2017, Mexico City in 2018, Dubai in 2019 and Geneva in 2022. UJAA has also been a sponsor of FIRST® Technology Competition – Jamaica since 2018. In March 2022, Lesleyann co-chaired the Jamaica Diaspora Education Taskforce 7th Advancement in Education Summit in partnership with Marymount Manhattan College and the Jamaica Teachers’ Association. The Summit brought 60 educators and administrators to New York City for a week of “virtual” tours, workshops, panel discussions and breakout “reflection” sessions.
In the area of Mentoring, Lesleyann has been a mentor for many and involved in the development of several mentoring programs. She led Bell Atlantic/Verizon’s Summer Internship Program for her department from 1998 to 2006 which provided mentoring for college students. She was active in the INROADS Inc. Greater Washington, D.C. and was the recipient of their Business Coordinator of the Year in 2000. In 2010, she developed a business plan for the WFC Jr. Foundation – a small non-profit organization created to give back to the youth of the Greater Baltimore area. At the University of Maryland Global Campus, Lesleyann served as a mentor for new Adjunct Faculty in 2007, 2010, 2015 – 2019. In addition, she chaired the Jamaica Diaspora Mentoring Task Force which focused on the implementation of mentoring for teachers in Jamaica.
Lesleyann has been employed in various leadership capacities in the telecommunications sector for the past 35+ years, and since 2001, has been an adjunct professor with University of Maryland Global Campus in the Business Management department. She currently teaches Organizational Leadership and Business Management.
In recognition of her deep commitment to serving others and giving forward, Lesleyann has been the recipient of numerous awards over the years including the Consul General’s Heritage Award 2018 from the Consulate General of Jamaica New York, in recognition of “outstanding and dedicated service to the community.”
Lesleyann holds M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering – Technology Management from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
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