EXECUTIVE TEAM

Jeanene LeSure

Executive Director/Program Manager

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Jeanene LeSure serves as the 1^st Executive Director for INSPIRE by L.E.S.U.R.E., Inc. and comes to the organization with a wealth of knowledge and experience in program/project management. Mrs. LeSure received a Bachelors of Science degree in Therapeutic Recreation and a Certification in Dance in Healing in 2006 from the University of Florida (Go Gators ☺), then immediately began her recreation therapy career in the private sector, having spent over 2 years as the adolescent team recreation therapist for people with spinal cord injuries and disabilities at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta. Mrs. LeSure’s background was most impactful while helping her young patients and their families learn their “new normal” and addressing society’s physical and attitudinal barriers through community reintegration outings.

Jeanene then transitioned her career as a Certified Recreation Therapeutic Specialist (CTRS) to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, in Tampa, FL in August of 2006, after the initial wounded Veterans returned from Operation Enduring Freedom/Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF). During her seven-year tenure there, she led their robust Adaptive Sports Program and served as the Local Coordinator for the 2013 National Veterans Wheelchair Games (NVWG) held in Tampa, overseeing over 50 planning committees for the largest multi-sport competition in the world solely for Veteran athletes in wheelchairs.

She concluded a 16-year career with the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2022, spending the last nine of those years serving as the Administrative Officer for the National Veterans Golden Age Games (NVGAG). In this role, Jeanene organized everything from hotel contracts to budgets to mobile applications for a multi-sport event for approximately 1,000 senior Veterans each year. As one who values the importance of constant growth both personally and professionally, Mrs. LeSure has taken the initiative to engage in several leadership development and certification programs such as: Program/Project Management Certification (FAC-P/PM I), Competency Development for Leaders in the 21^st Century (VA VISN 8), 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Certified Facilitator, Certified Mentor/Coach, and VA Contracting Officer Representative Level II Certification (FAC-COR II).

Mrs. LeSure currently resides with her husband, daughter Janiya, and niece Shauntel in her hometown of Tampa, FL, where she graduated from Tampa Bay Technical High School after successfully completing their Health Academy PT/OT Emphasis Program. She is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., dedicated to improving her local and global communities by providing service, scholarships and sisterhood to all mankind.