Leslie Keefe

Leslie Keefe has more than 25 years of marketing, management and strategic business consulting experience in the corporate and non-profit fundraising sectors. Keefe, who is a Vermont native, ran a successful consulting business focusing on organizational development, including strategic planning, governance, fundraising, training and marketing before joining Southwestern Vermont Health Care as the Vice President of Corporate Development in January, 2014.

Keefe, who lives in Manchester, has a long history of successful marketing and fundraising in Bennington County, raising several million dollars in annual, capital and endowment initiatives for several local organizations. As executive director of the Manchester and the Mountains Chamber of Commerce for seven years, she quadrupled membership and led a variety of successful economic development initiatives.

Keefe launched her career in the retail industry, completing the Bloomingdale’s executive training program in New York City before spending nearly a decade with San Francisco-based clothing chain, Esprit De Corp. Keefe oversaw the entire East Coast and Midwest operations, opening numerous outlet stores and managing over 200 employees and several million dollars in revenue.

Active in the both her local and statewide community, Keefe currently serves on the Board of the Southern Vermont Arts Center and served on the board of the Calvin Coolidge Memorial Foundation for several years assisting the organization with its vision of becoming a nationally recognized institution, as well as volunteering with various community organizations. She also serves an alternate commissioner on the District 8 Act 250 Commission, a position she has held since 2007.