As Communications Director for Idaho Business for Education, Leslie Barbour drives their social media, keeps their website updated, designs newsletters and manages administrative duties.

Leslie is an Idaho native who moved to Texas in 2001. She graduated in Austin from the University of Texas with a bachelor’s in Advertising and received an associate degree in Sign Language Interpreting from Austin Community College.

Right out of college, Leslie ran her own social media company where she served a variety of clients, including a Sirius XM radio host for the channel “Radio Classics.”

Leslie lived abroad in Abu Dhabi from 2012-2014 where she had the opportunity to teach 3rd grade at an international school and intern with an advertising agency. In 2014, she returned to Texas where she taught American Sign Language at a Title I school in Fort Worth and served as chair for the World Languages department.

In 2018, Leslie moved to Aberdeen, South Dakota and managed a nonprofit as their Executive Director. In this position, she also taught STEM-related classes to kids of all ages. At this job she was the “face of the company,” and was given the opportunity to network, fundraise, conduct board meetings, and manage a budget.