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Leslie Smallwood-Lewis
Leslie Smallwood-Lewis
00:45

Leslie Smallwood-Lewis

Mosaic Development Partners

Philadelphia, PA USA

"There's very little that I won't try. There's very little that I don't think that I can achieve. I might fail...but it's never my mindset that I'm not going to be able to pick myself up, keep moving, and be successful at what I do."

Career Roadmap

Leslie's work combines: Business, Entrepreneurship, and Accomplishing Goals

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Day In The Life

Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer

I develop real estate projects that create lasting impact in communities that have historically lacked investment.

02:36

Day In The Life Of A Real Estate Developer

My Day to Day

I can move between four or five projects in a single day, providing counsel and direction wherever it’s needed. I handle the company’s financials, from payroll and compliance to planning ahead and securing financing for our projects. Even as our team has grown, I’m still deeply involved in the work—and my day rarely stops at five.

Skills & Education

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

  • Bachelor's Degree

    Psychology, General

    Brown University

  • Doctorate

    Law

    Villanova University

Learn more about different paths to this career

Life & Career Milestones

My path in life took a while to figure out

  • 1.

    Inspired by my father’s civil rights work, I went to law school planning to become a civil rights attorney.

  • 2.

    My first job at a civil defense firm showed me pretty quickly that practicing law wasn’t the right fit for me.

  • 3.

    I took an opportunity with a real estate development firm, where I learned the industry and discovered how much I thrived in entrepreneurial work.

  • 4.

    Rarely seeing people who looked like us in real estate, my partner and I felt called to develop marginalized neighborhoods more equitably.

  • 5.

    We left comfortable jobs to start Mosaic in 2008 with no projects or capital in hand—just a vision and a desire to make an impact.

  • 6.

    We built Mosaic by partnering with larger firms, eventually transforming a shuttered school in a food desert into a community shopping center.

  • 7.

    Today, I’m building mixed-use, mixed-income projects while preparing the next generation to carry Mosaic forward as a legacy company.

Defining Moments

Experiences and challenges that shaped me

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  • I was diagnosed with breast cancer and decided to approach it like a warrior. I went to my chemo appointments on my own, set up a desk, and kept working. I made sure to remain authentically myself through it all.

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