Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jody Leshinsky. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jody, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about the best boss, mentor, or leader you’ve ever worked with.
The best boss ever was Mary Becht. She was my director at Broward Cultural Division. In 1986 she saw that I had talent that I didn’t even see and she took a chance on me and hired me as a publisher for a quarterly magazine. We worked together for almost 30 years and she consistently pushed me to learn more, to network more, to never take no as an answer but to do so with a smile and a solution. We are still friends and see each other often. She was my mentor and my hero. She was a visionary and always had a plan. You may not have known what that plan was in the moment, but in the long run, we understood.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I have been living in South Florida since 1979, I was married for 40 years and had two daughters who are now grown and out of state. I have been an arts administrator for most of my career which began in 1981 at Broward County Government. I worked my way up from a Recreation Leader in the Parks and Recreation Department to a Publications Specialist then a Marketing Director and finally the Assistant Director of the Broward County Cultural Division. As a public servant for 35 years, I worked with more than 1,500 nonprofit cultural organizations and individual artists, helping them learn how to publicize, brand, and market themselves. On my retirement in 2016, I moved to the nonprofit industry for a year, then to the Community Redevelopment Agency, and then to the City of Pompano Beach helping to form the new Cultural Affairs Department. I retired again in 2022 and made the move to a retirement village as their Life Enrichment Manager. I like to say that I am in charge of the fun on our 70-acre campus. Bringing my 40-plus years of experience to this position has been an asset to the residents because we went from bingo and evening films to large-scale entertainment that you might find at any of our performing arts centers . . . from Tito Puente Jr. and Nestor Torres to the Florida Grand Opera and the Miami City Ballet.
At the end of every concert, I park myself at the exit and say good evening to each resident and it never fails that they say, “wow Jody, you have outdone yourself once again!” I don’t need the pat on the back, but this tells me that I am doing my job well.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Over my career, I have been in a position where I have had to educate state senators and representatives about arts funding. It is a frustrating scenario because we know that the arts are essential. We know that the arts improve the test scores of students. We know that artists think critically and more creatively than people who are not artists. But the educating process has to be quick, you have to have your elevator speech with only bullet points ready to fire away at the elected official. Most of the time they have a long line of people out the door and they can only give you two minutes. Yet, the fate of many nonprofit cultural organizations is teetering on extinction because the arts funding is consistently cut year after year.
In other countries — mainly Europe — the arts are considered essential and are funded by the government. Museums are free of charge. Artists are sponsored so that they may create their art be it visual or performing.
Americans need to understand the importance of the arts and support public funding, join a museum, serve on the board of a nonprofit cultural organization, or donate money from their estate — if they can.
The arts are an economic driver. In 2022, nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences generated $151.7 billion in economic activity—$73.3 billion in spending by the organizations, which leveraged an additional $78.4 billion in event-related spending by their audiences.
When you purchase a ticket to go to the theater, that is not the only impact. That is the direct impact. Then there are indirect factors . . . maybe you need a babysitter, then you and your significant other need to eat so you head to the local restaurant, and oh wait, you look down at your gas gauge and realize you need gas to get to the theater. All of that is indirect economic impact and those businesses have to pay their taxes. Not to mention the theater which pays their actors and crew and janitors and also licensing fees. All of those people are also tax payers. It is a win-win situation.
When someone asks if an artist can volunteer to perform. I always counter with, “If your toilet needs to be fixed, would you ask your plumber to volunteer to fix it?” I mean, artists can make their living by their art only if people are willing to pay them for their services.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I grew up in New York, the center of the world of theater and museums in my (former) opinion. But since I moved here, I have seen incredible growth in the cultural community. The only thing to do in Broward County in 1979 was to go to a bagel restaurant, go to the newly opened Broward Mall, or to Parker Playhouse maybe two or three times a year to see someone of my parent’s generation sing or act. Today, we have choices from outdoor artwork festivals to museums, history, science, botanical gardens, theater, dance and so much more. Sometimes there is so much taking place, that we have to make that choice of which event to attend.
I love seeing this transformation, and knowing that I was a huge part of this transformation, but I know it isn’t finished and I want to continue to be a vital part of that journey.
The only thing that we can count on is change!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.johnknoxvillage.com
- Instagram: @jodyleshinsky
- Facebook: Jody Leshinsky
- Linkedin: Jody Leshinsky
- Other: I am also a visual artist, a photographer and have my own website: www.jodyleshinsky.com
Image Credits
@suepea photography