Leslie Goodman
Executive Vice President, Worldwide Public Affairs
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

As executive vice president of Worldwide Public Affairs for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts (WDP&R), Leslie Goodman leads the communications and public affairs strategy for eleven theme parks that span three continents and include the Disneyland Resort in California, Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, the Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan, Disneyland Resort Paris in France, and Hong Kong Disneyland. The Parks and Resorts segment also includes the top-rated Disney Cruise Line; Adventures by Disney, a story based, guided group vacation program taking families to popular travel destinations; Imagineering, the visionaries who imagine the future of family entertainment; Disney Vacation Club, with seven resort destinations and ESPN Zone, a sports entertainment restaurant chain.

Leslie joined the Walt Disney Company in 2001 and created the division's first worldwide strategic communications department. Today, she manages global issues and supervises a team of media relations, internal communications, government relations and community relations specialists to build upon Disney's reputation as one of the worldwide leaders in the family vacation business.

While much has changed since Disneyland welcomed its first Guest nearly 50 years ago, one thing has remained the same – Disney's ongoing commitment to safety. Under Leslie's leadership, the first-ever Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Report on Safety was produced, offering a behind-the-scenes look at Disney theme park ride safety programs. The report was lauded by amusement park and national safety industry officials. She also directed the development of a consumer safety education campaign, Disney's Wild About Safety, featuring beloved Disney characters from the Lion King that teach the rules of safe behavior.

Leslie has more than 25 years of strategic communications and media relations experience, in a career that has included work with government, private consulting, politics and broadcast journalism. Prior to joining Disney, she was the founder and president of Strategic Communications Services, Inc., (1998-2001) a Sacramento-based consulting practice that offered public relations and crisis management counsel to corporations, public officials and issue advocates.

Leslie's government career included posts with the Reagan Administration (1984 – 1988) and former President George H. Bush (1988 – 1992), as well as Governor Pete Wilson of California, where she served as deputy chief of staff for communications from 1993-1997.

Leslie has also held a number of political and public policy positions during her nine years in Washington, DC. In the political arena, she served as the director of communications for the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, leading the effort to disseminate messages across multiple media platforms and facilitating access for 1,600 accredited news organizations. In 1992 she served as deputy director of communications for the 1992 Bush-Quayle re-election campaign, and was the press secretary for Chairman Lee Atwater and the Republican National Committee (1988-91). During the Reagan years, she worked as a press advance representative for Mrs. Reagan's "Just Say No" public service campaign and traveled to major international events in support of the White House Press Office.

In public policy, Leslie was the vice president of media relations for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (1993); director of communications and public liaison at the United States Information Agency (1991 - 1992); and associate commissioner for governmental affairs at the Social Security Administration (1986 - 1988).

Leslie began her career in local television news at WCBS-TV in New York and worked for several years as a freelance television producer.

Leslie is a graduate of Stanford University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Communications. In 1996, she was chosen for a fellowship at Harvard University's Institute of Politics, where she spent a semester teaching a study group on political communications at the Kennedy School of Government.

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