Kristine Leslie (She/They) is a multiply neurodivergent Strategy and Development Consultant who offers support in creative capacity building to communities and organizations as Chief Transformation Officer of Integrative Arts and Well-being through her consultancy, Consult with Kristine (NJ Certified Small M/WBE).
She received an A.S. in Liberal Science-Deaf Studies (conversationally fluent in American Sign Language (ASL)) from Union County College as a NJSTARS Scholar and later earned a B.A. in Sociology/English-Writing from Kean University (Magna Cum Laude with membership in 5 collegiate honors societies), where she spearheaded the creation of Afro-Latinx Dance Project and directed WOMANITY Union, a franchise location of her Bachata and Heels training under Maria Ramos (Harlem, NY).
While attending Kean University in 2018, Kristine was introduced to Carolyn Dorfman Dance as a NJ SummerDance scholarship student and joined the Marketing team as Communications and Development Associate in 2022. Before joining Carolyn Dorfman Dance, Kristine worked as a teacher, particularly with Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing students with and adults with multiple disabilities in local public school districts, not-for-profit community organizations, and private institutions. She completed internships with Nimbus Dance as Marketing Coordinator and ARTS By The People as an apprentice Grant Writer. Her professional trajectory and lived reality as a spoonie with non-apparent disabilities further led her to work as Community Building Associate at The National Consortium for Creative Placemaking and Equity and Access/ADA Coordinator for each workplace thereafter. She is certified in Youth Mental Health First Aid and trained in Radical Mental Health First Aide.
Kristine has always had a passion for the arts, and has been involved in various forms of artmaking through multiple mediums since childhood. As an adult and overall, her assorted yet comprehensive experiences have given her a unique perspective and skillset that she brings to her work in the non-profit arts sector and beyond, including being Administration and Communications Director at Rahway Dance Theatre and a Paid Leave Organizer with New Jersey Citizen Action. Some of her professional affiliations are The Osgood Group (Research Fellow), Strike For Our Rights (Guest Board Member), Freelancers Union, The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey (DEI/ADA Advisory Committee), Dance New Jersey (ADA Advisory Committee), Non-Profit Professionals of Color Collective, New Jersey Arts and Culture Administrators of Color (NJACAC), and The Network for Arts Administrators of Color (NAACBoston).
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