Introducing 2011 ProInspire Fellow: Marian Leitner
Name: Marian Leitner
Hometown: New York City
Organization: GAVI Alliance
Previous Employer: AXA-Equitable
What inspired you to make the switch into the nonprofit sector?
I had always been passionate about international development. One day at work, I was assigned to support a project to pilot microinsurance in Saudi Arabia. It just unleashed this passion that I had repressed. I just knew that I wanted to work in international development.
What is your current position, and a typical day like?
I currently work in private sector outreach for GAVI Alliance. I help to bolster the “private” in our public private partnership through corporate fundraising, as well as engaging corporations to share their expertise and capabilities to help GAVI better strengthen health systems and deliver vaccines to the developing world.
Where did you work prior to making the switch?
AXA Equitable in New York.
What is your professional background and areas of expertise?
At AXA, I worked as a strategy and innovation consultant supporting all areas of the business, though mostly marketing.
What are you involved in outside of work?
Outside of work, the organization that takes up the majority of my time is Explosion-Proof, a literary magazine I co-founded. As publisher, I not only handle all business and operations for the magazine, but help to determine issue themes, solicit articles and recruit writers.
Who do you look to as a leader in your respective field, and why?
Andrew Mitchell, Secretary of State for International Development in the UK. He believes that foreign aide is incredibly important, but must be used effectively, and advocated for regular auditing of the UK Department for International Development, and as applied principles of Return on Investment to foreign aide. In addition, he believes in active engagement of the private sector to tackle development issues believing that the technology, capabilities and innovations of the private sector could have a massive impact on many challenges the developing world faces.
What blogs or websites do you read on a daily basis?
I read New York Magazine, the Atlantic, the New York Times, and the Economist. I also, quite shamefully, love to read spoilers about my favorite tv shows… and read TV Fanatic.
If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would you like to see play the lead role?
I don’t really care as long as Hugh Jackman plays my husband.
If your friends and enemies had to describe you in three words, what would they be?
Activator, listener, passionate.
What is your dream career if money was not an option?
I’d love to be a travel writer.
What book are you reading right now or what is your favorite book?
Picking favorite books for me is like asking a parent to pick her favorite children. But I am currently reading a fabulous memoir The Tender Hour of Twilight by the famous publisher, Richard Seaver, that I am really enjoying. And I just finished the Marriage Plot by Eugenides which was quite fabulous.
Where else have you lived?
Other than D.C., and my hometown New York, I have lived in Baltimore, Barcelona and Edinburgh. While I may live other places, I will always be a New Yorker at heart!