Leslie Wilson

Leslie Wilson

As president/CEO of Wilson Resources, Inc. over the past 18 years, Leslie Wilson has consulted with major corporations, federal courts, federal and state agencies and private nonprofits in states from coast-to-coast.

WRI developed and is providing staff support to 10 local, award-winning Business Leadership Networks (BLNs), employer-to-employer organizations, which market the employment of people with disabilities. More than 600 BLN business members have joined the local Florida BLNs. Companies like Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, the BLNs’ statewide champion, Merrill Lynch, the Federal Reserve Bank, Hyatt Hotels, SunTrust Bank, Walt Disney World Company and Holland and Knight Law Firm are BLN members. The BLNs and the employers who belong to them have won every major United States Business Leadership Network award. Through the BLNs, Ms. Wilson and others have provided onsite training on the employment of people with disabilities at such notable companies as American Express, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, AvMed, AmeriGroup, CSX and other large corporations.

Currently, WRI is assisting the state of Florida in implementing its federal Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG) to increase the number of Floridians with disabilities who become competitively employed. Activities include certifying employment specialists using WRI’s copyrighted Supported Employment curriculum, providing advanced training for certified employment specialists titled, Working with Business: The Best Practices of the Most Effective Employment Specialists, and training trainers on the WRI SE Curriculum. Ms. Wilson is the lead trainer and from 2006 through November 2008, nearly 2,000 people have been trained by WRI.

Through WRI’s 2008 contract with CESSI, a contractor of the Social Security Administration (SSA), WRI is promoting the SSA’s “New” Ticket to Work Program (TTW). WRI is tasked with educating and recruiting employers to participate in the TTW program by becoming Employment Networks (EN). Ms. Wilson is providing training to employers on the advantages of becoming an EN using WRI’s recently developed Employment Network Handbook for Employers: Turning Diversity into Dollars. The EN Handbook has been well-received by SSA and is being distributed nationwide and at employer training sessions.

Leslie Wilson serves on the National APSE: The Network on Employment Board of Directors, and is the recipient of the 2003 National Leadership Award and the 2004 Businesswoman of the Year, both presented by the National Congressional Committee’s Business Advisory Council. She is also listed in the National Register - Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals, 2004 Edition, International Executive Guild, Bethpage, NY.