Dr. Kimberly L. Jeffries Leonard is a member of the ACS CAN Board of Directors. She is currently the 17th National President of The Links, Incorporated and The Links Foundation, Incorporated.
Dr. Jeffries Leonard serves as President and CEO of Envision Consulting, LLC, a boutique public health consulting firm specializing in strategic and innovative executive level solutions for public, private and government entities, including strategic planning, program design and implementation, and program/systems assessment and evaluation, and minority community engagement.
Dr. Jeffries Leonard’s broad background includes expertise in developing, implementing, evaluating and guiding public health and behavioral health programs, policies, and related legislation, with subject matter expertise in minority health, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, cardiovascular disease, health disparities, health care reform, tribal issues, reentry and criminal justice issues, international behavioral health, co-occurring mental health and trauma, and women’s and adolescent services. Dr. Jeffries Leonard has over 25 years of applied health, minority health, and behavioral medicine research, evaluation, and technical assistance and training experience specializing in health promotion and disease prevention. She has designed, implemented, and evaluated public health programs in minority and underserved populations with multiple co-occurring physical and behavioral health problems. She has developed population-specific technical assistance strategies; developed qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods health and behavioral research; and has led and directed large, multi-year, multidisciplinary health projects for federal, state, local, and private entities. In addition to her public health expertise, Dr. Jeffries Leonard has extensive experience in senior level management execution and has provided managerial leadership in private and government settings. Dr. Jeffries Leonard is knowledgeable of federal contracting principles, grants management, performance monitoring, and continuous quality improvement methods and has managed each of these processes. She is adept at making programmatic and policy decisions related to political and public health complexities. Dr. Jeffries Leonard has also worked extensively on programs in and with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and has developed and implemented minority engagement, training and professional development programs for non-profit organizations. An effective written and oral communicator, Dr. Jeffries Leonard has served as spokeswoman for federal and state government initiatives and for a number of organizations with interests related to public health issues.
Dr. Jeffries Leonard earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Psychology from Howard University and a Master of Science degree from North Carolina Central University. Her education also includes completing a National Institutes of Minority Health pre-doctoral fellowship at George Washington University Medical School, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences examining chronic disease and family systems, a National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute post-doctoral fellowship at the Howard University Cancer Center, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics studying cardiovascular and cancer epidemiology, and completing the Graduate Summer Program in Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health.
Dr. Jeffries Leonard has a life-long commitment to public service exemplified throughout her successful professional, academic and civic endeavors. She is currently the 17th National President of The Links, Incorporated and The Links Foundation, Incorporated, serves as Vice Chair on the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Inc. Board of Directors, Vice President of Administration and member of the Board of Directors of the Black Women’s Agenda, Inc., and was appointed Chair of the D.C. Commission on African American Affairs by Washington, D.C. Mayor, Muriel Bowser. Dr. Jeffries Leonard is the recipient of numerous honors, awards and recognitions, including the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) Alumni of the Year Award from her alma mater, Fayetteville State University, AARP "African American Change Maker" and National Health Leader, the Women in Excellence Reaching Higher Award by the Afro American Newspaper and the Chancellor’s Medallion, Fayetteville State’s highest honor bestowed on an Alum.