Candace Leeds
Advancement Strategy Lead
Candace Leeds (she/her) has decades of experience working in leadership roles for both corporations and non-profit organizations, specializing in branding, marketing/PR and development. Her broad background has enabled her to bring a unique perspective to her clients, helping them to build their capacity and achieve their goals.
Most recently, she has been serving as a development and marketing consultant for non-profit organizations, analyzing needs and overall strategies, working to highlight impact and awareness, and raising funds.
Candace spent four years as Director of Advancement and Donor Relations at the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, leading Major Gifts and successfully raising six figure grants. For the past 30 years, she has served on the Board of the Ronald McDonald House of New York, working on strategic planning and marketing, and heading the Public Relations Committee. She has also generated significant publicity for Music on the Inside, another nonprofit where she serves on the Board of Directors.
Ms. Leeds spent 20 years as Vice President of Public Affairs at Loews Corporation, running PR, crisis communications, financial PR and all other media and communication issues for the multi-billion-dollar company and its top executives. She also worked alongside members of the Tisch family (founders of Loews) on their many philanthropic endeavors. During that time, she had the unique opportunity of consulting with many major charities in which they were involved, often sitting-in on Board meetings while representing the Tisch family interests. Her years dealing with the many Tisch philanthropic interests and more recent work with many charitable initiatives have given her the ability to understand the workings of many successful nonprofits. Additionally, she can anticipate the motivations of high-level donors and communicate with them in language that aligns their interests with the organization’s philanthropic aims.
Prior to Loews, Candace held leadership positions in two major PR firms: The Rowland Company, absorbed by Saatchi & Saatchi (EVP, SVP for 8 years), heading major PR campaigns for McDonald’s, DuPont, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Man Made Fiber Producers, among others; and Grey Advertising ‘s PR arm (AE, SVP, SVP for 4 years ) heading campaigns for No Nonsense Panty Hose, Johnson & Johnson, the Rainbow Room and others.
Early in her career, she segued from a professional music career to become Associate Director of the concert hall, Town Hall, where she ran public relations, solicited corporate partnerships and major donors for musical programs, and produced several widely acclaimed concerts series. She also wrote several book reviews published in the NY Daily News. She retains her interest in music, occasionally performing in cabaret settings. and writing reviews for Cabaret Scenes Magazine.
Candace joins the Geos Institute as an Encore Fellow.