Leslie Gilbert-Lurie

Leslie Gilbert-Lurie has over thirty years of leadership experience in human rights, social justice, education equity, child advocacy and communications. She is a lawyer, author, philanthropist, former television executive and community leader.

Leslie is a member of the International Board of Directors of Human Rights Watch (HRW), where she is Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee. She is also the Past Co-Chair of HRW’s Los Angeles Committee.

As a Founding Board Member of the Alliance for Children’s Rights, Leslie has been instrumental in guiding a leading legal rights organization for abused, at-risk, and foster youth. Gilbert-Lurie also served as the Vice-Chair of the Los Angeles Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Welfare, which led to widespread policy change in Los Angeles County.

Leslie is a member of the UCLA Foundation Board of Directors, and Chair of its Nominating and Governance Committee. She is a member of the Board of Advisors to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and the UCLA School of Law. As a student at UCLA, she was the Student Regent on the Board of Regents of the University of California. She also served for over a decade on the Los Angeles County Board of Education, and she was President of the Board for three terms.

Gilbert-Lurie’s memoir, Bending Toward the Sun, chronicles her mother's experience in the Holocaust and the intergenerational transmission of trauma. She has spoken in a variety of countries and across the US about the book, the Holocaust, and its implications for the world.

Leslie spent her earlier career as a television executive at NBC, where she oversaw NBC Productions and the comedy division, co-wrote television episodes for Alf and Saved by the Bell, and co-founded an in-house production company, Lurie-Horwits Productions. As a lawyer, Gilbert-Lurie worked at the law firm of Manatt, Phelps, Rothenberg and Tunney, and she served as a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Law Clerk.