Leslie Sieck

Leslie Sieck serves as Vice President for Strategic Initiatives at Culver-Stockton College, where she leads institution-wide efforts to advance innovation, workforce development, and externally funded initiatives aligned with local, regional, and national priorities. She brings more than two decades of experience spanning higher education leadership, economic development, and strategic advancement, with a focus on building cross-sector partnerships and translating institutional capacity into measurable community impact.

At Culver-Stockton, Sieck previously served as Vice President for Economic and Workforce Development and Executive Director of Tri-State Development, a multi-state regional initiative spanning 42 counties across Missouri, Illinois, and Iowa. In this role, she led efforts to convene industry, education, and government partners to address workforce shortages, expand data- informed decision-making, and strengthen rural economic ecosystems. Her work has included the development and delivery of applied workshops such as Economic Development Strategies that Transform Communities and Basic Principles for Economic Development, as well as national and international presentations on innovation and regional development. In June 2025, she presented at the University Industry Innovation Network (UIIN) Conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands titled How Small Colleges Power Rural Revitalization and served as a panelist on innovation-focused programming.

Under her leadership, Culver-Stockton College was awarded the University Economic Development Association’s 2023 Engaged University Award of Excellence for the Tri-State Development program, and she was nominated in 2024 for the national Rural Innovators Award. Sieck’s professional background also includes leadership roles in advancement and corporate and foundation relations, where she successfully secured and managed funding for complex, multi- year initiatives in higher education and healthcare settings. Her experience positions her to support institutional integration of new programs, coordinate cross-disciplinary implementation, and lead external engagement and dissemination efforts.

Her academic preparation includes a Master of Business Administration from MidAmerica Nazarene University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from William Jewell College, complemented by professional training through the International Economic Development Council.

Within this project, Sieck contributes expertise in institutional strategy, rural workforce systems, and cross-institutional collaboration, ensuring that the Secure AI Systems Engineering model is effectively implemented, broadly disseminated, and adaptable for replication across similarly situated institutions.