Dr. Janet Leslie Honored for Dedication to Mentorship
By Danielle Wiseman, Staten Island Chamber of Commerce
Dr. Janet Leslie, CEO and Founder of Gift of Experience LLC and the Leslie-Carter Group LLC, is committed to fostering the next generation of leaders.
A native New Yorker, Janet was born and raised in Ocean-Hill Brownsville, Brooklyn at the peak of the civil rights movement. At the time, Ocean-Hill Brownsville was a predominantly black and Puerto Rican neighborhood, and when Janet started her education in the early 1960s, schools throughout New York were still segregated.
Janet, the daughter of two Caribbean immigrants, began attending school at P.S. 137, a segregated elementary school just down the block from the Leslie residence. In 1964, when President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, Janet’s childhood, and those of so many other students throughout Ocean-Hill Brownsville, was ripped from her.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin, in addition to strengthening voting rights and outlawing segregation in public spaces, including schools. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the most radical civil rights legislation since the Reconstruction Acts of 1867, which granted citizenship and equal rights to African Americans.
Upon completing the second grade in 1964, Janet switched elementary schools to gain a higher quality education, and in September of 1964, she began attending the newly integrated P.S. 203, where she was bused for over an hour and a half each way. For her remaining elementary school years, Janet was the only person of color in her grade and one of three children of color in the entire school. As of 1967, less than 8% of school staff throughout New York City were people of color, even though over half of the student population was black or Puerto Rican.
“When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act over the summer of 1964, my childhood was changed forever. I remember sitting in a class full of white students and never being called on by the teacher, never being engaged with academically. The students of color would have to run from the school bus straight into the school in order to avoid items being thrown at us,” reminisces Janet. “I used to come home and cry every day to my parents that I didn’t want to go back, but I eventually overcame it and started to use learning as a tool for good.”
As Janet continued her education, she discovered that she not only loved learning but also excelled at it, and she began to distinguish herself by leaning into her intelligence and constantly learning something new. Throughout elementary and middle school, Janet would spend her free time researching new topics and would become an expert on niche subjects. Despite all odds, she was elected Class President in the 7th grade, taking on her first leadership role and a real opportunity to showcase her talents to her peers. Janet continued to excel throughout middle and high school, and she went on to obtain her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Brooklyn College, making her the first person in her family to obtain a college degree.
Upon graduating from Brooklyn College in 1986, Janet began working as an Operations Manager at Kingsborough Community College (KCC). At KCC, she quickly climbed the ranks and moved into a senior administrator role, acting as the Director of the Office of Academic Scheduling & eSIMs Help Center. While working full-time at KCC, Janet was inspired to start her Master of Science in Higher Education Administration, which she completed at Baruch College in 1999.
Janet’s love for learning quickly expanded into a love for teaching and guiding students, and in 2003 she began teaching at KCC as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Human Services, where she taught and mentored students in the education program. While teaching, Janet also discovered her passion for mentorship, and she decided to pursue her doctoral degree in higher education. Janet completed her Doctor of Management in 2012 at the University of Maryland University College, where she entitled her dissertation Topologies of an Effective Mentoring Model: At the Intersection of Community Colleges, Underrepresented Students, and Completion.
Janet continued to teach at KCC for another twenty years, closing out her final class in 2023. Throughout her time as an Adjunct Assistant Professor, Janet focused on mentoring non-traditional students of color, opening yet another path for herself as an educator.
“When I was in graduate school at the University of Maryland, I remember thinking to myself, ‘Gosh, I wish I had the gift of someone else’s experience’ because I had no one to look up to academically,” says Janet. “That’s what gave me the idea to start my own business and give other people the guidance that I didn’t have. My inspiration has always been that little girl in the third grade who had to learn to learn.”
In 2019, Janet started Gift of Experience LLC, a small business with a mission to offer mentoring services, identify higher educational opportunities, and connect graduate and doctoral candidates to funding and postsecondary academic resources. Janet’s original goal was to work primarily with students in higher education, providing them the guidance needed to succeed in that environment. Since then, Gift of Experience has grown exponentially, and she now works with students from the high school level to adults starting their own businesses, teaching at various sites such as A Chance in Life and the New York City Business Solutions Center on Staten Island. Janet is also the instructor of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce’s Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!), a 16-week afterschool program that transforms students into entrepreneurs.
With a personal desire to establish inroads toward generational wealth, Janet and her sons, Omar Gyasi Carter and Ibrahim Sharif Carter, started the Leslie-Carter Group LLC in 2021. The Leslie-Carter Group is a family-owned business that promotes the acquiring of property as a legacy investment. Janet purchased her first house in Jamaica, Queens in 1986 before moving to Staten Island and purchasing her West Brighton residence in 1999. As a result, she has always encouraged her surrounding family to purchase real estate.
For her accomplishments, Dr. Janet Leslie is being honored with a Louis R. Miller Business Leadership Award, which she will receive in the Established Businessperson category. The awards, which are presented by the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce and the Staten Island Advance, honor the memory of Louis R. Miller, a businessman and West Brighton resident who was also a community leader.
In addition to providing opportunities for Staten Island’s youth, Janet is also incredibly active in the Staten Island community. Janet is currently a member of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, the National Council for the Social Studies, the Parliamentarians of Metro New York and Greater New York, the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People – Staten Island, and the National Council of Negro Women – Staten Island. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Lambda Kappa Mu Sorority, Inc. – Lambda Chapter, the Seamen’s Society for Children and Families, the Staten Island Museum, and the Sundog Theatre.
Janet was also the recipient of the Black Excellence Award (2024), presented by Council Member Kamillah M. Hanks. She has also received a Community Award Citation from Project Caribbean (2023) and the Thomasina Williams Community Service Award from the Harriet Tubman Purple Hat Society (2022).
Current occupation and title: CEO and Founder of Gift of Experience LLC & CEO and Founder of Leslie-Carter Group LLC.
Hometown: Then: Ocean Hill Brownsville, Brooklyn, NY Now: West Brighton, Staten Island, NY.
Past occupations and titles: Computer Operations Manager; Adjunct Assistant Professor; Lead Instructor Entrepreneurial Training; Lead Instructor Leadership Training; Lead Instructor Business Start-up Instruction; Dissertation Committee Member - Doctoral Candidate; Executive Mentor - Doctoral Candidate.
Community involvement: Member of Lambda Kappa Mu Sorority, Inc. - Staten Island Chapter Epistoleus, National Council of Negro Women, Inc. - Staten Island Section - Legacy Life Member, Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, Inc. – Staten Island Chapter, National Association of Parliamentarians, National Council for the Social Studies, Participatory Budgeting New York City, CUNY- Professional Staff Congress, and the United Nations Association of New York. On the Board of Directors of the Staten Island Museum, Sundog Theatre, and the Seamen’s Society for Children and Families.
Some of my life goals include: To establish an academic and professional legacy via pro bono mentoring and outreach under the banner of the Gift of Experience LLC and a personal financial legacy via real property acquisitions under the banner of the Leslie Carter Group LLC.
The best part of my job: Working with students, scholars, and start-up entrepreneurs unafraid to dare to envision the possible.
The most difficult part of my job: My inability-due to time constraints to participate in the wide array of meaningful and interesting activities and events that typically hit my inbox each week.
My life philosophy: Continues to evolve as new and divergent possibilities are revealed along my journey.
I am most proud of: Being the mom to twin sons who have now transformed into being my biggest champions and protectors.
Something that no one knows about me: I love driving cars with a stick shift, manual transmission---I’ve owned five different models over the years---still driving one to this day!
The quality I like best about myself: Being a self-learner and being unafraid to walk a solo path when necessary.
Personal interests and hobbies: Real estate, the ever-changing process of teaching and learning, and year-round gardening.
I laugh at: The silliest things, like when I am caught off-guard during an impromptu conversation.
I am really good at: Listening, mentoring, and crafting pathways to assist others achieve their aspirational goals.
I admire: My twin sons, in whom I am deeply proud and privileged to have call me mom, my immediate and extended family ties, and the solid and extensive network of women I call on as my sisters.
Some important thing/s I would like you to know about me: The process of coming to understand and accept the ‘mantle of honor’ as endowed in the receipt of this the Louis R. Miller Business Leadership Award is weighty. I am and continue to be thankful and humbled