Leslie Garvin is the Executive Director of North Carolina Campus Engagement, a collaborative network of 39 colleges and universities committed to preparing students for civic and social responsibility, to partnering with communities for positive change, and to strengthening democracy. She facilitates faculty and staff professional development initiatives, builds strategic partnerships to develop and expand higher education civic engagement, and leads the North Carolina Collegiate Hunger Challenge and Elections and Democracy work. She has trained hundreds of faculty, staff, students, and community partners across the state and country in the deliberative dialogue method. Leslie is a Collaborative Discussion Coach and a trained moderator and member of Braver Angels. She also facilitates workshops on Theater of the Oppressed.

Leslie is a 2022-23 UC Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement Fellow conducting a research project on "Disrupting Mis & Disinformation in Higher Eduction." She also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Issues Forums Institute and co-chairs the State Summits & Networks Subcommittee of the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition.

Leslie has co-authored chapters in Critical Intersections in Contemporary Curriculum & Pedagogy (Info Age Publishing, 2018) and Practical Wisdom for Conducting Research on Service Learning: Pursuing Quality and Purpose (Stylus Publishing, 2019). She also served as an author and editor for the Primer on Benefits and Value of Civic Engagement in Higher Education. (2021)

She holds a Master of Social Work with a concentration in social and economic development and a specialization in management, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and African-American Studies, both from Washington University in St. Louis. She is a former White-Riley-Peterson Policy Fellow and a proud Americorps alum.