President, First Focus
Mr. Lesley has more than 30 years of public policy experience at all levels of government and a demonstrated commitment to improving the lives and well-being of children. Lesley has served as the president of First Focus on Children since 2006 and directs policy development and internal operations at the organization. He also serves as an assistant high school girls basketball coach in Montgomery County, Maryland.
During his 12 years on Capitol Hill, Lesley worked on health care, education, human services, and immigration issues in several different capacities. Prior to his work at First Focus on Children, he served as Senior Health Policy Advisor on the Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committees for U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman. He also worked for U.S. Senator Bob Graham on the Senate Finance Committee, served as minority Chief of Staff for the Senate Special Committee on Aging, and was a legislative aide in the offices of U.S. Representatives Ronald Coleman and Diana DeGette.
In addition to public service at the federal level, Lesley worked at the state and county levels of government on health and human services policy for Texas State Representative Mary Polk, El Paso County Judge Pat F. O’Rourke, and Texas Governor Ann Richards in the Texas Office of State-Federal Relations in Washington, D.C.
Lesley has also worked in the healthcare sector as the Director of Congressional Relations for the Children’s Hospital Association (also known as the National Association of Children’s Hospitals) and as Director of Government Relations for University Medical Center, a public hospital in El Paso, Texas.
Lesley holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland University College, in College Park, Maryland, and earned an M.A. in Political Psychology from Arizona State University. He also attended the University of Texas at El Paso and University of Texas at Austin.
Bruce resides in Maryland with his wife and has four adult children.
