Leslie Smallwood-Lewis graduated from Brown University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Immediately after graduating from Brown, Leslie attended law school at Villanova University School of Law and graduated in 1991.
From 1991-2001, Leslie practiced civil defense law at a medium sized Philadelphia defense firm and subsequently in a small Philadelphia law practice specializing in workers compensation, personal injury, domestic relations and bankruptcy.
In 2001, Leslie joined the Goldenberg Group, a regional mid-sized real estate development firm located in Blue Bell, PA, as an Associate Development Director. During her 7-year tenure, she was promoted three times ultimately achieving the position of Senior Vice-President of Development. Leslie led the development of a $50 million, 342,000 square foot shopping center, the largest single development in West Philadelphia and the largest development in a Federal Empowerment zone located in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. She also developed and implemented a program which led to the successful acquisition and relocation of private residences without incident, utilized eminent domain to acquire vacant blighted properties and generated community support and positive media coverage for the effective management of this program.
In 2008, Leslie and her partner Gregory Reaves, established Mosaic Development Partners. Since its founding, Mosaic has developed over $54 million in real estate projects and has created over 200 construction jobs and 100 full-time jobs.