A proud Bosnian-American, Leylah is an international development and communications professional based in New York City. With a passion for advancing gender equity and employing transformative approaches, Leylah has dedicated her career to fostering inclusive, community-led strategies and challenging post-colonial norms. Her experience spans managing diverse stakeholder relationships, program creation and management, and strategic communications planning across West Africa, the US, and the EU. Notably, she has contributed to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and gender-based violence (GBV) programming in West Africa and has led humanitarian initiatives at the American Red Cross, improving aid provision in refugee communities, especially for women and children.

Leylah holds an MSc in Political Science, International Relations with High Honors from the University of Edinburgh, and a BA in International Relations and French Business from the University of Arizona, also with High Honors. She is trilingual in Bosnian, English, and French, and currently serves on the junior board at Part of the Solution (POTS), a dignity-building nonprofit in the Bronx, New York.