Name: Leslie Engle Young
Age: 32
Job Title and Description: Chief Impact Officer at Pencils of Promise
College Name/Major: University of San Francisco/English, Creative Writing
Twitter Handle: @lengleyoung
Instagram Handle: @lengleyoung
What does your current job entail? Is there such a thing as a typical day?
Leslie Engle Young: My job is really centered around the programs that we deliver in each country and working with others on the Impact team trying to refine our strategy and assess our work. Most of the time I am working out of our New York office, however, every couple of months I spend time in Ghana, Guatemala or Laos. Those days look very different and are filled with long car rides with some of the most amazing people I know.
What is the best part of your job?
LEY: The people. The fact that I truly get to work with people from all over the world makes every single day interesting.
What was your first entry-level job in your field and how did you get it?
LEY: Actually, my first entry-level job in this space was here at Pencils of Promise! I joined the team when I was 25, after buying a one-way ticket to Laos and Facebook messaging founder, Adam Braun, something to the effect of “Hey! You built a preschool in Laos! I’m moving to Laos and I used to teach preschool––let’s talk!”. So, I got the job because of timing, fate and the willingness to make a pretty crazy move and take a very big risk.
What words of wisdom do you find most valuable?
LEY: As a young girl, like many young girls, I was obsessed with the Diary of Anne Frank. And a couple of years ago I got to visit her house while on a long layover on my way to Ghana. There I was reminded of exactly why she spoke to me so much, both then and now: “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
What is one mistake you made along the way and what did you learn from it?
LEY: It took me a while to understand that as a manager, I need to make sure my team has the tools to do the job at hand. I know that sounds pretty basic, but as a manager, if someone that works for me stays up all night doing a project, that is 110 percent my fault! I failed to ensure that they had the adequate tools, time and expectations in place before starting this project, and so in that situation I failed that person.
What has been the most surreal moment of your career thus far?
LEY: Moving back to the states from Laos was one of the most impactful, surreal and saddest days of my life. That last day, with the whole team that had grown from two people to thirty over the years, was unreal.
What do you look for when considering hiring someone?
LEY: Passion and potential. Those are the two qualities that completely set people apart for me. Of course, I look for hard and soft skills related to the job, work history, etc., but what I really want to know is: do you care about this? Are you willing to grow and learn?
What advice would you give to a 20-something with similar aspirations?
LEY: Take risks. Take the jobs that seem far away or scary, or that make you nervous.
What’s the one thing that’s stood out to you the most in a resume?
LEY: A current team member here at PoP emailed every person she could find with the email @pencilsofpromise.org. I probably got five different forwards saying “can you reply to this lady already?!” At first it felt potentially too bold, but then when I took my first call with her, her on a shaky line in Sierra Leone and me in our NYC office, I could hear her determination. When I asked the very basic question of “why do you want this job?” she said, unwaveringly and genuinely, “because it is my dream job.” Tenacity goes a long way.