Bio

As the Director of External Relations for the Missouri Department of Higher Education & Workforce Development (MDHEWD), Leah builds strategic partnerships across Missouri's education, workforce, and economic development stakeholders. She also serves as a liaison to legislators, state agencies, universities and colleges, and more, with the aim of advancing affordable access to quality higher education and workforce development in Missouri. While in MLA, she served as the OA Customer Engagement Liaison and the Missouri State Employees Charitable Campaign Manager. As OA Customer Engagement Liaison, she regularly meets with leadership from the executive agencies to identify and solve any customer service issues. As the MSECC Manager, she has led efforts to modernize campaign processes, including creating online pledge options and digitized charity applications. Leah was a member of the OA CARES customer service initiative, a trainer for the rollout of ENGAGE 2.0 to all OA supervisors, and most recently named as an OA Influencer and tasked with identifying ways to use QPS data to implement meaningful changes. Prior to joining OA, Leah began her career with the State of Missouri in 2010 and has worked for the Department of Labor & Industrial Relations and Missouri Consolidated Health Care Plan. Leah holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.