Welcome Aboard, Leeanne G-Bowley

Today we welcome aboard Leeanne G-Bowley (pronouns: she/her) as Village Preservation’s Director of Programming. Leeanne brings with her experience across an incredibly varied 15-year career that emphasizes community, culture, learning, and equity. Leeanne has created impactful events, workshops, and cohort programs here in New York City and around the world. Through a career spanning work with organizations such as Foundation Center (now Candid), and most recently the EdTech company 2U, Leeanne has traveled broadly, improving education, community leadership, and civic engagement. She is a skilled facilitator and coach who has worked with thousands of nonprofit, small business, and corporate leaders, helping them to build stronger organizations, develop more equitable practices, and deepen their impact for the communities they serve.

Alongside her work as a leader producing nonprofit learning programs and events, Leeanne is a choreographer who founded In-Sight Dance Company. In-Sight Dance worked to create discussion and deepen community ties through the creation and performance of groundbreaking works of dance and theater. One highlight of this work was producing the Suite Summer Festival, culminating in a collaboration with Socrates Sculpture Park for which Leeanne curated a roster of over 50 dance companies who created and performed site-specific dances incorporating the sculptures throughout the park. In 2018, Leeanne launched a civic engagement workshop coupled with an original mini-ballet in collaboration with Sunnyside Community Services and local nonprofit arts groups.

Leeanne has also worked to protect her Queens community against inappropriate development in terms of design and character, while connecting to her neighbors, including local small businesses and cultural institutions, through the arts and movements for equity and justice. She is a member of Queens Community Board 4, where she serves on the ULURP/Zoning Committee. In 2021, Leeanne was appointed to the Queens Borough President’s Civic Engagement Committee, a network of Queens-based leaders supporting community events and education programs, while also coordinating communications and community outreach opportunities between government institutions, nonprofits, and businesses, to strengthen civic engagement across the borough.

Leeanne was born and raised in Upstate New York, but knew from her first New York City cab ride as a toddler that she was meant to live in the five boroughs. She came to school at St. John’s University in Queens where she earned her Bachelors in Government and Politics, as well as her Masters in Educational Administration and Instructional Leadership. While there, she worked with the chair of her department to launch the first completely online NYS Masters program for principals. She lives with her husband, Clive, in Elmhurst, Queens, the most diverse community in the country.

Leeanne’s affinity for Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo began from her first moments exploring the city, and has only deepened over time. While working in Union Square at Foundation Center, Leeanne would typically end her day by walking south to dive deeper into the neighborhood. You could find her here filming a music video or getting to know the cultural institutions, large and small, that make our communities an epicenter of creativity and cultural life.

Leeanne is excited to bring her mix of experience in nonprofit leadership, producing complex and enriching events, and community engagement to continue Village Preservation’s long tradition of public programming that explores and celebrates preservation, history and culture. She can be reached at leeanne@villagepreservation.org.