Susan Leitao
Director, Project TEAMWORK
(617) 373-4258
[email protected]

Susan Leitao directs Sport in Society's Project TEAMWORK, a multi-racial, mixed gender team of professional , collegiate, and Olympic athletes who mentor young people in areas of human rights issues and conflict resolution. Leitao was able to use her past experiences in sports and working with gang members to conduct trainings on diversity and violence prevention in over 50 schools in the greater Boston area.

Leitao joined Sport in Society in 1994 as a member of Project TEAMWORK.

In 1996, Leitao became the Associate Director for Sport in Society's Athletes in Service to America program. Part of President Clinton's AmeriCorps campaign, Athletes in Service is a national community service program whose student-athlete corps members teach children violence prevention skills and provide academic support to urban schools and community centers.

Previous Experience

Prior to joining Sport in Society, Leitao worked for three and one-half years with the Los Angeles County Probation Department where she counseled youth offenders aged 8-18.

Education

Degree in Political Science from California State University at Los Angeles.

Leitao is working to obtain her Masters Degree in Criminal Justice at Northeastern University and hopes to continue working toward solving the many problems facing youth today by promoting the positive values of sport.

Personal

Leitao grew up in New Bedford, MA where she played high school basketball, field hockey, and ran track. Her accomplishments in basketball led her to a professional basketball career in Nice, France as a part of the team Cavigal Nice Sports.

After her experience in France, she joined the United States Army for three years and worked as an Intelligence Analyst and Russian/French translator in Augsburg, Germany.