I have also created, co-created and collaborated in a wide variety of projects that live at the intersections of art, social justice and wellness. I was were a co-creator and President of the TransMasculine Community Network, an organization supporting AFAB trans and nonbinary folk in NYC; the Managing Director of the Orange Blossom, an arts and education community squat; a co-designer of Fuck Your Health, a comedy performance exploring reproductive health for LGBTQ folk; and the co-founder and co-director of the Kingsmen, a drag performance troupe. I directed Occupy the Stage, engaging occupiers and bystanders in creative dialogue about economic disparity and the dangers of capitalism; designed and managed audience support, dialogue, and education project for the Slave Play, a Tony-award winning play; wrote the education toolkits for the award-winning documentary film, Disclosure; was the Production DEI Specialist for the film Heightened Scrutiny; and much, much more.

I was an Out in Front Leadership Fellow with Stonewall Community Foundation; served as a Board Member and Board President of Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed from 2005 to 2025; and have been providing training and curriculum design support for the Center for Racial Justice in Education since 2016.

I have received several awards, including from the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center for community leadership, the Brooklyn Borough President for my artistic activism supporting the LGBTQ community, and the Center for Racial Justice in Education for advancing racial equity.

S. Leigh Thompson's CV

About Me

Hiya! I’m Leigh! I am a queer trans genderqueer white and Native person with disability who has worked at the intersections of art and social and political justice for over 25 years. I have worked as a trainer, campaign strategist, community organizer and lobbyist for organizations such as the ACLU, GLSEN and Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation. I hold a BA in Theatre from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and an individualized MA from Gallatin at NYU, focusing on utilizing creative participation for political and social change with course work in change theory, community studies, public policy, nonprofit management and campaign strategies.

Currently, I work as a movement strategist, organizational development consultant, facilitator and coach, and I help values-driven people to thrive while building practices, skills, cultures and systems aligned with liberation. My clients include small local to large global nonprofits, educational institutions, movement coalitions and businesses from around the world. 

I’m also the co-founder and co-owner of the Asterisk, a community workspace for healing, creativity and liberation in Kingston, NY, and a Ulster County Human Rights Commissioner.

I’ve worked with

  • Agnes Scott College

  • American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

  • AMIDA Care

  • Association of Housing and Neighborhood Development

  • Bard College

  • Big Apple Performing Arts

  • Borough of Manhattan Community College

  • Brooklyn Community Pride Center

  • Cardozo School of Law

  • CARLE Institute

  • Catskill Mountainkeepers

  • Center Against Domestic Violence

  • Center for Racial Justice in Education

  • The Chapin School

  • Colin Powell School of Public Service, CCNY

  • Columbia University

  • Condé Nast

  • Conservation Colorado

  • Coro Leadership Center of New York

  • CUNY School of Law

  • Daily Kos

  • Dance USA

  • Disclosure (the film)

  • Dot2Dot

  • Downtown Brooklyn Arts Alliance

  • Educational Alliance

  • Environmental Defense Fund

  • Fatherly.com

  • Florida Immigrant Coalition

  • Fordham High School for the Arts

  • Forum for the Future

  • Georgetown University

  • Global Strategy Group

  • Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force

  • Heightened Scrutiny (the film)

  • High Falls Food Co-Op

  • High Meadow School

  • Horace Mann School

  • Hot Bread Kitchen

  • HR&A Advisors

  • Hunter College

  • IDEAL School

  • INCLUDEnyc

  • Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy

  • International Rescue Committee

  • Kimberly-Clark

  • Kinetic Light

  • Kingston City School District

  • Kingsborough Community College

  • Lincoln Center

  • Landscape Architecture Foundation

  • Memria

  • Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates

  • Miss Hall's School

  • Montclair Cooperative School

  • Mount Sinai

  • National LGBT Cancer Network

  • Nazareth College

  • Nebraska AIDS Project

  • The New School

  • Next Up Oregon

  • New York Coalition of Radical Educators

  • New York State Association of Independent Schools

  • The New York Times

  • New York Theatre Workshop

  • New York University

  • North Star Fund

  • NYC Child Care Resource and Referral Consortium

  • NYC LGBT Center

  • NYC Dept. of Youth and Community Development

  • Office of the Bronx Borough President

  • Parsons School of Design

  • PENCIL.org

  • Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed

  • Queens Museum

  • Queers for Economic Justice

  • Ralph Lauren

  • Right To Be (formerly Hollaback)

  • Roundabout Theatre Company

  • Safety and Health Council of Greater Omaha

  • Scenarios USA

  • Sero Project

  • SEIU 32BJ

  • Spotify

  • Sierra Club

  • Smith School for Social Work

  • Stonewall Community Foundation

  • Stonehenge NYC

  • SUNY Cortland

  • SUNY New Paltz

  • The Solutions Project

  • Thirdway Theatre

  • ThomasLeland

  • University of Florida

  • University of Iowa

  • Vera Institute of Justice

  • Washington University

  • Wesleyan University

  • WKNY Radio Kingston

  • Young People For (YP4)