Kim Jefferies Leonard, Ph.D. (17th National President)

Kimberly Jeffries Leonard, Ph.D. is a 1986 alumna of Fayetteville State University (FSU), was elected the 17th national president of The Links, Incorporated in 2018. 

 

She has expertise in minority health and behavioral health programs, policies, and related legislation; with subject matter expertise in minority health, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, cardiovascular disease, health disparities, health care reform, tribal issues, re-entry and criminal justice issues, international behavioral health, co-occurring mental health and trauma, and women’s and adolescent services. She has more than 30 years of applied health, minority health, and behavioral medicine research, evaluation, and technical assistance and training experience specializing in health promotion and disease prevention.

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Leonard earned a Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Psychology from Howard University and a Master of Science Degree from North Carolina Central University. Her education also includes completing a National Institutes of Minority Health pre-doctoral fellowship at George Washington University Medical School, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences examining chronic disease and family systems, a National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute post-doctoral fellowship at the Howard University Cancer Center, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics studying cardiovascular and cancer epidemiology, and completing the Graduate Summer Program in Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. She is the recipient of the 2005 National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) Alumni of the Year Award for Fayetteville State University where she received her undergraduate degree in psychology.

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