Leslie j. lockhart

Leslie J. Lockhart brings more than 30 years of experience in education to DLI. In 2017, Ms. Lockhart was the first African-American to serve as CCUSD Superintendent and served in that role for four years. In July of 2021, she retired after a successful career in education that spanned over 30 years. Before becoming the Superintendent of Culver City Unified School District, Ms. Lockhart served as CCUSD's Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Director of Categorical Programs, Assistant Principal at Culver City High School, and Principal of El Rincon Elementary School during her more than 22 years in the district. Before coming to Culver City Unified School District, she served as a teacher in East Los Angeles in the Los Angeles Unified School District for ten years.

As an educator for more than 30 years, Ms. Lockhart earned a Bachelor's Degree from UCLA and has a Master's degree in Educational Administration and a Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Pepperdine University. She is enrolled in a doctoral program at Azusa Pacific University; her particular interest is in culturally sustaining pedagogy.

Throughout her years in education, she has been dedicated to creating and enhancing programs that promote students' academic, social, and emotional achievement. Her list of accomplishments within Culver City Unified School District is long. As Assistant Principal of Culver City High School, Ms. Lockhart developed, maintained, evaluated, implemented, and enhanced extracurricular activities that helped to promote student achievement and general student well-being. She created the Student Inter-Cultural Advisory Committee, where high school students were trained in an anti-hate and anti-bias curriculum and served as peer educators for their fellow students. As Principal of El Rincon Elementary School, she piloted the full-day kindergarten program, created Fifth-Grade Exit Portfolio presentations and the fifth-grade ballroom dance program. Due to her efforts, El Rincon became a STEM Focused School, where a hands-on wet and dry science lab serves students with a science staff development center for elementary school teachers in the district.

While serving as Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, she created the Inspired Living Campaign, which provides physical, fiscal, and social-emotional wellness opportunities for employees. Ms. Lockhart has created slam poetry and speech opportunities for young girls of color in a new QueenSpeech event for all grade levels, bolstering confidence and pride in their African American or LatinX cultures. In 2016, Ms. Lockhart was named Personnel/Human Resources Administrator of the Year for the Association of California School Administrators Region XIV, the Stovall Foundation award for Leadership. She is a continuing member of ACSA and has co-founded UNITY, an organization that empowers African American women in education and educational Leadership.