Leandre Waldo is new chief of staff for Saint Michael’s President Sterritt

Leandre Waldo

Leandre Waldo brings a wealth of relevant experience in communications and higher education as she starts work this week at Saint Michael’s College as chief of staff for President Lorraine Sterritt, as of February 21.

President Sterritt said that in Waldo’s years working at Champlain College, Vermont Technical College and Boston College, “she has taken on multifunctional roles including strategic project leadership, communications, issue resolution, crisis management, media relations, enrollment, and marketing.”

“I couldn’t be more pleased to have such an eminently qualified, talented, and energetic person filling this vital role at a crucial time as we launch the Strategic Plan and conduct myriad other projects of crucial importance for the College,” the president said in her late-January announcement about the position to the Saint Michael’s community. The new chief of staff pronounces her first name “Lee-ON-dra.”

Waldo most recently served as director of communications and engagement at the University of Vermont Health Network — Home Health & Hospice. “She is well-known throughout Vermont and within higher education, healthcare, and nonprofit organizations as a strategic leader and trusted adviser with a strong track record of building enduring partnerships,” Sterritt said. “She has a passion for finding solutions to complex challenges.”

Waldo described her new Saint Michael’s role, as it is emerging from early discussions with the president, as “equal parts project management and relationship building,” adding that Sterritt has characterized the role as “chief connector of dots.”

“A chief of staff is often referred to as the president’s right hand. In some ways it’s also being her eyes and ears. It’s my responsibility to know what is happening across the College, identify those issues that require the attention of the president and those that myself or another community member can own or impact,” Waldo said. “All the while, I will be building relationships with as many people as I can on campus so they feel well-heard and well-served.”

Said President Sterritt, “All of Leandre’s previous experience will be drawn upon as she embarks on the multitude of responsibilities that fall within the portfolio of the Chief of Staff” — particularly moving forward important work already under way on the College’s Strategic Plan.

Waldo received her bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College and her MBA in nonprofit management from Brandeis University. She sits on the Board of Mercy Connections, a Burlington-based nonprofit, which played a part in her interest in the Saint Michael’s chief of staff position, she said.

“I had served with Saint Michael’s Vice President for Student Life Dawn Ellinwood at Mercy Connections and she assured me everything I had heard about President Sterritt is true – that she is thoughtful, engaging, authentic and incredibly bright. Lorraine and I immediately hit it off when we met.” In addition, a friend and Saint Michael’s alumna sent Waldo the job notice, saying, “This is what you’ve been waiting for,” based on that friend’s knowledge about Waldo’s career priorities and interests. “For years I’ve been saying I want to be the great right hand of an exceptional leader,” Waldo said.

“I don’t think it is any coincidence that some of the very best people I know are St. Mike’s grads or employees. Everyone I know who is associated with or graduated from Saint Michael’s is unfailingly kind, incredibly intelligent, and driven to make the world a better place,” she said, adding that what drew her to the College was seeing her own values of empathy, integrity and curiosity reflected in the College’s mission. “I’m also drawn to the College’s very real commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.”

Born in Worcester, MA, Waldo spent early years in Cape Cod before moving to California and then Michigan. She headed back east to New York State for college at Hamilton, and from there, her work drew her back to Massachusetts and then to Colorado. Waldo returned to Massachusetts again for graduate school. “After a few years working outside Boston, I moved to Vermont in 2005 to raise a family close to lake and mountains and all the outdoor activities I love.”

At Boston College from 2003 to 2005 Waldo was assistant director and project manager for that institution’s National Resource Center for Participant Directed Services, including extensive work in writing grants and managing project finances. From 2007 to 2013, she was first the director of operations and then director of communications for RunVermont and the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington.

At Vermont Technical College after that, she served as associate director for communications, development and marketing, while her titles at Champlain College from 2014 to 2021 were director of client services and director of client & media relations. At UVM Health Network Home Health & Hospice in recent months, she led internal and external communications for the state’s largest and oldest home health organization. She also is a board member/secretary for the Unitarian Universalist Society of Burlington.

Waldo lives in Burlington with her partner Lesli Blount, and teenaged son and daughter. When she’s not working, she’s likely outside. She is passionate about hiking, biking, running, exploring and she has an interest in SCUBA. “If there’s an adventure, I want in – I love to travel,” she said.

“I’ve always been somebody who enjoys making connections and seeing everything from the 30,000-foot view, boiling it down to what needs to happen here,” Waldo said. “That’s why it’s important for me to ask, ‘What’s important to St. Mike’s, and why is it important to St. Mike’s?’”