Our Minds, Our Voice Woman of Distinction 2019 Honoree: Lesleigh Mausi, M.Ed.
Durham, NC – The Aura Galleria will present Lesleigh Mausi with the Woman of Distinction Award for her work in the field of Business at their third annual “Our Minds, Our Voices” event. This powerful awards luncheon takes place on March 2nd in observance of National Women’s History Month. Ten influential women will be honored in the categories of education, medicine, social justice, civil service, public service, technology, mental health, business, humanities and fashion and beauty.
Lesleigh Mausi, M.Ed. is an entrepreneur, award-winning educator and writer. She is Co-Founder and Vice-President of The DOME Group, LLC, an entertainment promotions company producing first-class concerts and events throughout North Carolina and the Midwest. Her company secures some of the top names in music for venues like the DPAC, corporate clients including Southern Company and General Motors Corporation, and for university homecoming shows including NCCU and WSSU.
In March of 2018, Lesleigh and her husband purchased the Durham-based Art of Cool Music Festival, making her the Owner and Vice-President of one of the country’s premiere weekend music festivals to date. The festival, which took place just last weekend, brought over 10,000 festival attendees to the area, boosting economic impact for the region, and for the state.
A 22-year educator, Lesleigh has impacted thousands of public school children in North Carolina and Michigan as an English teacher and High school administrator. Her career grew from teaching Vocal Music and English Language Arts on the elementary and middle school levels, to leadership as Assistant Principal of Jordan High School in Durham, NC. In 2013, she piloted a gender-empowering reading program that supported high-school students with foundational reading struggles. Her approach for the classroom model proved that surrounding girls and boys with literature focused on THEIR interests, identities and strengths leads to increased confidence and progress in reading.
For this work, Lesleigh was nominated for the Spectacular Magazine’s “Woman of the Year” Award for Education in 2014. In 2015, she was a voice representing her work at the Congressional Black Caucus Education Town Hall in Washington D.C. In 2016, Lesleigh was named “Assistant Principal of the Year” for Durham Public Schools. A life-long educator, Lesleigh continues to mentor women and girls through annual vision-building workshops and seminars.
In June of 2016, Lesleigh felt a shift in her life, and obediently responded by retiring from her 22-year career in public education at the age of 42. She took a year for travel and reflection, and then joined her husband’s side as Vice-President of their company, The DOME Group, LLC. Lesleigh believes she has a 3-fold distinct gift: to help women take leaps of faith, to encourage them to walk in obedience to their callings and giftings, and to model and honor the role, position and anointing of wife in the kingdom of God.
Creatively, Lesleigh is a writer and classically trained pianist. She has served as Minister of Music and choir director for churches and recorded musical projects. She wrote, directed and performed an original spoken word stage production, “His Praise, Her Prose” at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, Michigan. Her spoken word fuses with cultural images and live music/dance to create a sensory and spiritual experience for her audiences. Her published works have appeared in the Detroit Free Press, and her most recent anthology, Black Girls Hear.
Lesleigh holds a B.A. in Communications/Journalism from The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan and a Masters in Educational Leadership from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and is a tithing member of Raleigh North Christian Center in Raleigh, NC. She lives in North Carolina with her husband of 19 years, Sulaiman, and their sons, Sulaiman Jr. and Ahmad.
This year’s luncheon will feature media pioneer Cathy Hughes, an African-American entrepreneur, radio and television personality and business executive. Hughes founded the media company Radio One (now known as Urban One), and when the company went public in 1999, she became the first African-American woman to head a publicly traded corporation. In the 1970s, Hughes created the urban radio format called “The Quiet Storm” on Howard University’s radio station WHUR with disc jockey and fellow Howard student Melvin Lindsay.
This electrifying event is expected to draw 300 women and men, including local area high school students, college students and vendors. Attendees of all ages and ethnicities are encouraged to attend.
Vendor and exhibitor showcase: 11:00 am
Our Minds, Our Voices
Saturday, March 2, 2019
11:00 am – 2:00 pm
JB Duke Hotel
230 Science Drive
Durham, NC 27708