Leslie McBeth is the Director of Professional Development at Future Design School, where she empowers teachers around the world to develop future-ready skills in students.
Leslie has been working at the intersection of design and education for nearly 15 years. She started her career at the Design Trust for Public Space, where she worked with the world’s top architects, designers and policy leaders to develop solutions to complex problems in the public built environment. After working on a partnership with the Center for Urban Pedagogy that asked students to solve a big, messy problems in their community, Leslie returned to Canada to pursue a teaching career. For the next 6 years, Leslie was a classroom teacher, where she developed an approach to using design as a framework for project-based, place-based learning that engaged students in real world problems. In 2015, Leslie gave a TEDx Talk titled “Teach Cities” which argued that urbanism should be a core subject in education.
In addition to her work at Future Design School, Leslie is a Facilitator in the Cohort 21 professional development program, and the Design Coach for the Google for Education Certified Innovators Program. She is a member of Massey Hall’s Centre Aisle Committee, an Ironman finisher, an urbanist, an outdoor adventurer and above all, an optimist.