Who We Are
Leslie Kerns
Principal + Chief Strategist
From Leslie: I’m a senior communications executive, campaign strategist, and social change advisor with more than 20 years of experience creating impact for mission-driven ventures.
My work has helped change policy, transform systems, move the needle of public opinion, shift narratives, and strengthen brands. Along the way, I've created two successful businesses, built and led winning teams, practiced law, advised foundations, and learned a thing or two about what makes people, movements, and organizations tick.
Leslie’s Bio:
Leslie has more than 20 years of experience using communications, advocacy, and integrated campaigns to create impact.
Since starting 1235 Strategies, Leslie has helped the Vera Institute of Justice lift the 26-year-old ban on Pell grants for incarcerated students, the EITC Funders Network make sure low-income, young workers get paid at tax time, and the CUNY Institute of State and Local Governance rebrand and launch its first communications strategy. Other clients include the STRIPED Initiative at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, FrameWorks Institute, Boston Athenaeum, Collective Change Lab, and Tax Law Center at NYU Law.
Leslie is also a member of the advisory council for the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge, a national initiative changing the way we think about and invest in local justice systems.
Previously, Leslie was an Executive Vice President at M+R, a national digital marketing and PR firm. During her tenure, Leslie advanced progressive transportation reform with Smart Growth America, changed the way kids in the justice system are treated and talked about with the MacArthur Foundation, and elevated international family planning in the 2016 election with Population Connection. She also advised the Rockefeller Foundation, Humanity United, GlobalGiving, Save Darfur, the Low Income Investment Fund, American Lung Association, 350.org, Accion, and other leading nonprofits. Along the way, she turned a team of four into a thriving division of 25 earned media, social media, and campaign strategists.
Leslie got her first taste of advocacy as an attorney in Ohio.
When she is not working with organizations and causes she cares about, you can find Leslie studying with Improv for the People, following her beloved basketball teams, and reveling in her luck to live in downtown Los Angeles with an amazing husband.
Our Trusted Partners
We promise to deliver senior attention, strategic integration, minimum overhead, and maximum impact. That means when meeting your needs requires additional skills or brainpower, we assemble an experienced team, turning to one or more partners whom we trust and admire. Our partners are former colleagues and collaborators we’ve maintained relationships with over the last 20 years by showing up and being good people.
Here is a sampling:
