External Relations Director Pursues Strategic Visibility
Leah Leach joins Chinese Ambassador to the United States Zhou Wenzhong and Lisa Borders, President of the Atlanta City Council, at a luncheon hosted by Councilwoman Borders in honor of the ambassador.
Leah and Steve Smith, Vice-President, Corporate Responsibility for Turner Broadcasting catch up on recent events.
Growing a quality image through strategic visibility is an ongoing effort for AIS, as with any exceptional institution. Our international academic reputation is stellar, and we are building our local and national images to follow suit. Whether engaging the U.S. Ambassador to China, supporting the arts department in establishing partnerships with Hammonds House, the High Museum’s Louvre-Atlanta project, or maximizing opportunities to share our diversity with various VIPs from around the world, I am motivated by the phenomenal place that is AIS. Raising the visibility of AIS is more than a job, it’s a passion, one that I enjoy and embrace enthusiastically.
Paying deference to our host community, the City of Atlanta, is critical to our continued and growing success as a unique International Baccalaureate center of learning and teaching. Local treasures abound, such as the Alliance Theatre, the Southern Center for International Studies, Hands On Atlanta, Georgia Tech and the Atlanta University Center Institutions, to name a few, with opportunities for creating valuable partnerships and establishing alliances that will bring tremendous value, both immediate and long-term. The possibilities are endless but quality, rather than quantity, is vital to ensuring that AIS is strategically positioned as an international model of education.
Ensuring that the external partnerships and alliances we create support the curriculum, students, teachers and our larger AIS community while raising our profile is the critical piece to measuring our success. Maximizing and leveraging our relationships, in order to better serve our customer base, is the driving force that facilitates our efforts. We are engaging local and international governments; reinforcing existing, valuable corporate ties with the likes of Coca-Cola, UPS, Turner Broadcasting and a host of others, and broadening our horizons by attracting additional companies that also share our values and appreciate our mission.
Upon viewing the landscape, many of you will recognize sources of possible support and/or partnership. Please feel free to contact me, lleach@aischool.org, so we can discuss the possibilities. I look forward to the wonderful opportunities to increase the strategic visibility of AIS and am sure this will be a journey we will enjoy together!