City of St. Petersburg
Lesley Ward currently serves as the Systems Development/GIS Manager for the City of St. Petersburg, a position held since August 2004, overseeing GIS application programming and e-government applications within the Technology Services Department. Prior to this role, Lesley was the GIS Coordinator, managing GIS support staff and coordinating GIS activities across various city departments and external agencies. Lesley's earlier experience includes serving as a Project Manager and Photointerpreter at Avineon and Geonex from 1992 to 2004, where responsibilities included producing and delivering environmental spatial data and conducting field surveys. Lesley holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography with a focus on Urban and Regional Planning from East Tennessee State University, earned in 1992.
City of St. Petersburg
As the 5th largest city in Florida and the second largest in the Tampa Bay Area (which has more than 3 million residents), St. Pete is a city on the rise. Located on Florida’s Gulf coast and nicknamed “The Sunshine City,” St. Pete offers a vibrant mix of tropical weather, arts and culture, shopping, dining, sports and outdoor recreation all along a stunning shoreline that features some of the nation’s top-ranked beaches. With weather that sees averages of 74°F and 361 days of sunshine per year, St. Pete attracts tourists, new residents and investments from across the country and beyond. In recent years, the City was named one of the ‘Best U.S. Cities’ by Conde Nast Traveler, ‘4th Best City for Women Entrepreneurs’ and the ‘Best Place to Visit in Florida’ by Travel and Leisure. Visit stpete.org/aboutstpete to learn more.