As Director of the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Family Well-Being Strategy Group, Leslie Gross leads efforts focused on ensuring all children, youth and their families are safe, healthy and equipped to thrive together in a just and equitable community free of unnecessary child welfare system involvement. The Family Well-Being Strategy Group works toward these goals by investing in efforts to prevent young people from entering the child welfare system; working with systems and communities to improve outcomes for families; and supporting young people with the resources and relationships they need as they emerge from foster care through the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative.

Prior to coming to the Foundation, Gross was director of the Office of Well Being for the District of Columbia’s Child and Family Services Agency, where she led a team of specialists focused on innovative strategies to achieve well-being outcomes for children, youth and families. She also worked as a Section Chief for the Child Protection Section of the Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from the Ohio State University.