Leslie Vickrey

career as a ski bum, Leslie began her professional career in marketing for well-known companies such as McDonald’s Corporation and Junior Achievement.

However, one taste of working for a technology company and Leslie quickly found a niche in the industry, where she has worked for the past 20 years managing marketing operations and providing consulting services for companies such as Spherion, Ifbyphone, TechServe Alliance, Harvey Nash, Fieldglass, Bartech and Aon Hewitt’s RPO division.

In 2004, Leslie co-founded Visient Partners, a marketing and design agency, where she served as Managing Partner. Prior to Visient, Leslie served as Director of Marketing for RiverPoint (formerly DHS & Associates) where she was responsible for enhancing their service-line development process and initiating a sales performance improvement program.

Leslie spent her first several years in the IT industry working for Spherion Technology, where she directed award-winning marketing and communications initiatives for their worldwide operations, at the time a billion dollar division.

Leslie received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism with an emphasis in Public Relations from Central Michigan University. She is also a founding partner of the Chicago Executive Women’s Networking Group, which cultivates and nurtures relationships among senior-level women in IT leadership roles through quarterly dinner events.

Most recently, Leslie co-founded ARA , a nationwide initiative to attract, retain and advance women in technology. Through mentorship programs, networking events and leadership panels, ARA has matched over 100 mentor/mentee pairs and continues to further the conversation about diversity in technology.