Noralisa Leo
Founder + President | Volta
EXECUTIVE SNAPSHOT
The Who and Why
Noralisa Leo is a bilingual and bicultural communications and public affairs strategist. Raised in a family of public servants and elected officials along the Texas-Mexico border, and as a former Texas State Capitol tour guide, she is a strong believer in the power of civic engagement and political participation.
From Austin, Texas to Washington, D.C.
Ms. Leo began her career working for the State of Texas on affordable housing and finance policies and later joined Fannie Mae supporting its mission-focused business and regulatory compliance to oversight congressional committees and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She has worked at the Smithsonian Institution leading marketing and external affairs for the Smithsonian Latino Center. During this time, she promoted the development of the first-ever Latino Virtual Museum, an early adapter of digital engagement and multi-media content development, and the country program series with Latin American embassies, the government of Spain, partner public relations agencies and trade ministries.
Client Service Work
Inclusion of diverse voices in public policy debates and earned media is a long-time focus of Ms. Leo’s work. Issue areas include broad-based political participation, diversity hiring and recruitment, net neutrality, the digital divide, equity in higher education and women’s health and reproductive justice. As a corporate strategic advisor, she has worked with Fortune 100 companies to strengthen and build authenticity in their internal and external diversity programs. She has led public affairs campaigns to advance client’s policy positions in technology, media, health and financial services in coordination with in-house corporate government affairs, legal, marketing and sales teams. Before founding VOLTA Communications, Ms. Leo was vice president, Diversity + Inclusion at Vanguard Communications where she launched a business vertical dedicated to equity communications, a senior vice president at SKDKnickerbocker and a managing director at DCI Group.
A Final Note
A proud Texan at heart, she resides in the DC-metro area with her husband, daughter and their Brussels Griffon, the notorious BG. She attended Wellesley College and earned a Master of Business Administration in Finance and a Master of Science in International Development from American University.