Lesley Edwards

Vice President of Partnerships

Lesley Edwards serves as the Vice President of Partnerships at Common Impact. In this role, Lesley inspires leaders of Fortune 500 companies to use skilled volunteerism to deepen their social impact and simultaneously give employees meaningful opportunities for professional development, teambuilding, and peer interaction. She works closely with Common Impact's corporate partners as a consultant and relationship manager to design skilled volunteering programs that reflect their business and community engagement objectives.

Common Impact is Lesley's first venture in the nonprofit sector. She sought an opportunity to apply her 13 years of professional experience as both an entrepreneur and strategy consultant in the private sector to the burgeoning arena of cross-sector partnerships, and found a perfect match in Common Impact. Her goal is to help 25% of the F500 harness the innovative potential of unconventional employee engagement.

Previously, Lesley worked for five years as a management and strategy consultant to large technology and communications companies based in North America and Europe for Adventis (now CSMG). Before completing her M.B.A. in 2001, Lesley devoted the early part of her career to helping two technology startup ventures build client relationships and market new products. Lesley brings to Common Impact a strong foundation in relationship management, marketing and communications, and strategic planning.

Lesley grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, and has subsequently lived in San Francisco and Boston. She holds a B.A. degree in American Studies from Stanford University, and an M.B.A. from Babson College with a Finance emphasis where she received the Babson Fellowship Award for academic and professional achievement.