Were you born in Chicago? How old were you when you moved to Bluffton? Was it a shock moving to Northwest Ohio from a big city or were you so young, that didn't really affect you?

I was born in Chicago. We moved to Lima, where both of my parents are from, when I was in 1st grade. Then on to Bluffton before 6th grade. I have a horrible memory, but I do remember being upset about moving from a big city to a small town (and then to an even smaller town). My wife, Sarah, also moved a couple times when she was growing up, and it affected both of us to the extent that we're planning to settle down somewhere if we have kids since we weren't big fans of the process.

Who was the first person you remember meeting in Bluffton? What are some of the stories that stand out in your mind from your years of growing up here? What were you involved with in school...music, extracurricular, etc.? Favorite teachers, classes?

Again with the bad memory, but I believe my first time coming to Bluffton I played with Ben and Alison Luginbuhl and Nate Gundy (there were certainly other kids there, but I can't remember who) in the area between their back yards. A lot of great stories/memories that stand out from growing up in Bluffton - high school tennis, First Mennonite youth group, talking long and hard with other young people about what the heck we were doing on the earth and what to think about God, pick-up basketball and Burcky Gym at Bluffton College, going to every BHS soccer game and cheering with a traffic cone, trips to Camp Friedenswald, co-founding the Pirate Superfans, lots of long walks late at night with good friends, I could go on and on. In terms of extracurriculars - I had a lead in the musical Anything Goes, played tennis all four years, and did a number of other things a little bit. My favorite teacher, hands down, was a professor at Bluffton College - Perry Bush. He turned me on to the power and joy of learning, something I'm very grateful for.

What year did you graduate from BHS? Thinking back to graduation, did you (at that time) have an inkling of what you might be doing today?

1998 grad. I don't think I had any idea whatsoever about what I might be doing today.

So...you left Bluffton for New York University? What led you there? Did you visit as a high school student?

When leaving for college, I wanted to go a big city school. NYU turned out to be the most urban of all, so after visiting in high school I was hooked. I also visited schools in Chicago, Boston, Providence, Philadelphia, and maybe more.

What did you study at NYU? When did you develop your interest in social justice and how did you first get involved? Does this relate to your college experience with Students for Free Tibet?

I studied Africana Studies and History at NYU. I left with three semesters to go. I was raised with an interest in social justice, so it developed over time. In high school we had a group called Peace Troupe that my mom led; we went to a few protests around that time, those sorts of things. When I went to NYU I found out about Students for a Free Tibet from a flyer by the elevator near my dorm room. The Beastie Boys were a popular band that trumpeted SFT's work, so I thought I'd give it a try. I suppose that was the beginning of my formal involvement in this general line of work.

Explain how you got from NYU to Cincinnati? It seems you took sort of a circuitous route from NY to Denver, Cleveland and Columbus...tell me about what you were involved with during that period.

The summer before my final semester at NYU, I was living in Denver with Steve Clemens and some of his friends from Goshen College - it was the start of their band, Lotus, which is getting bigger every year. I decided to go back for one more semester, and then I was thinking I would transfer somewhere else initially. I was also saving up for a trip to Africa in the spring/summer of 2000. After leaving NYU in the winter of 1999, I went back to Denver, then to Cleveland, then to Columbus doing canvassing/organizing around environmental issues. I went to Africa for three months, and came back after a bout with malaria in Timbuktu. My parents had moved to Columbus after I went to New York, and so I was there recuperating and working when I returned. Then I went with Pete Shriner, Julia Hansgen, Jesse Forrest and his girlfriend, Brandi (both from Columbus Grove) on a trip out west, piled in my Volvo station wagon. We got to Winner, South Dakota, where the car had some trouble, and while waiting for it to be fixed we played some basketball at a local park. I went up for a jumper after a long game of 2-on-2 and came down with a torn meniscus. After stops in Montana and Colorado, I came back to Columbus for surgery and rehab. While there, I met some activists from Cincinnati who were going to OSU and working on planning a protest related to a meeting about globalization issues called the Trans Atlantic Business Dialogue - an offshoot of the World Trade Organization - that was taking place in Cincinnati. They showed me around the city and told me about an internship that an affordable housing developer offered that included a free place to stay. I applied, made the move, and after a four-month detour out West and to Alaska to be a bear viewing guide, I ended up in Cincinnati for good in the summer of 2001. So yes, circuitous would be about right.

I remember hearing that you were involved with some organizations within the Over-the-Rhine area. Can you share what all you've done since moving to Cincinnati, leading up to your current position?

I've been doing non-profit work the whole time I've been in Cincinnati. I worked for affordable housing developers for about six years - ReSTOC and the OTR Housing Network (who have since merged to become OTR Community Housing). I started as an intern doing just about whatever to ending as a Project/Construction Manager, helping to put together development projects and oversee construction and costs. I did maintenance and whatever else was needed from start to finish.

Soon after arriving in Cincinnati, I co-founded an organization called Cincinnati Copwatch that did direct monitoring of police and citizen interaction, distributed information about citizens' rights, and did know your rights trainings with local attorneys. This was in response to major issues with police accountability following the riots in 2001. This was a volunteer project, and it faded in 2003, but a new idea arose. We began work on Elementz: The Hip Hop Youth Arts Center in the fall of 2003 and opened in February 2005. I became the paid Executive Director about a year later.

Elementz' mission is to inspire and engage inner city youth through innovative hip hop arts programs, leadership development, and community building. We ran arts programs - recording, dj-ing, graffiti, dance, etc. - as well as leadership and community organizing and partnerships with others (legal clinic, GEDs, etc.). I am still on the board at Elementz, and it was and is an amazing experience that I feel blessed to have been a part of.

In February, 2008, I took the job as State Director for the Center for Progressive Leadership, and I have been there until now.

What is the Center for Progressive Leaders? As state director, what does your position involve?

The Center for Progressive Leadership is a national, non-profit, non-partisan political training institute. Our mission is to develop diverse leaders who can effectively advance progressive political and policy change. As the Ohio State Director, I do everything from outreach, fundraising, and management, to working with our Senior Staff at the national level.

CPL Ohio runs long terms leadership development programs for people working to make political and policy change. Our programs combine training, coaching, mentoring, networking, and project-based work to enhance the leadership development skills of progressives in Ohio. You can find more info at www.ProgressiveLeaders.org/Ohio if you are interested.

What drives you to stay involved in social justice issues? You're on several boards; for someone so young, that's impressive. How do you see that kind of involvement?

Fundamentally, I believe that we are on this earth to be the best people we can be. That will mean different things to different people, but until there is equality of opportunity for everyone, everyone does not have the ability to be the best they can be. Combine that overarching worldview with the fact I was raised to believe that if you saw things around you that you did not like that you could do something about them, and not only that you could, but that you had a responsibility to do so - and that is, on a basic level, what I believe drives me to stay involved in working on social justice issues. I see my involvement with boards and organizations and everything as simply trying to figure out how I can have the most impact in the world in a positive way. Most days I have no idea what I'm doing, but I do my best.

Okay, aside from work and work-related activities, how do you spend free time in Cincinnati? We've found it to be an interesting city with lots of activities -- what do you enjoy?

I too have found this to be a great city! In terms of other things we like to do: My wife and I write a blog - www.amateurfoodies.blogspot.com - about food, food politics, restaurants, recipes, and more (I did a piece about flour and Tim King when I bought flour from him a couple weeks back). That's been a fun recent development. We bought a canoe last fall after an awesome trip canoeing with friends up in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario - we like to get outside frequently. Sarah is a great gardener, and I try to do my part too. We walk the dog in Parker Woods, up the street from our house, just about every day. We started a local meat CSA (more info on this on the page with the same name at our blog) with some farmers/producers over in Indiana. Generally, we try (often unsuccessfully it seems) to build community intentionally to find depth and support through relationships in our lives - potlucks, poker games, barbecues, etc. I'm sure I'm forgetting things, but that should give you an idea.

You got married recently, correct? Tell me a bit about your wife.

I am now Gavin DeVore Leonard, after having married Sarah DeVore. We met through mutual friends many years ago, and then started dating when she moved back to Ohio from Florida and North Carolina a few years back. Sarah teaches middle school Spanish at an inner city high school in Covington, Kentucky - just across the river. She is a wonderful woman, and I'm very happy and blessed to have found her. She is thoughtful, intelligent, and caring. We're both planners, which works out quite well. I could say much more, but I'll leave it at that.

How about your family? I ran into your mom awhile back and she told me about your sister going to what...France? Maybe I have that wrong.

Family is doing well. Elyse (she changed the spelling at some point many years ago) is in South Africa for a year through a scholarship program from the University of Michigan, where she will then have one more year left. She just finished a trip from Capetown to Cairo - something else! My dad is in Columbus and doing well. My mom is just returning from a trip to Guatemala and Mexico and doing well herself.

What kind of goals do you have for the next few years? Where do you see yourself in 10 years from now?

Over the next few years, Sarah and I hope to have a baby sooner rather than later. We hope to build stronger community bonds in our new neighborhood in Cincinnati - Northside. I hope we have a really big garden and can get rid of all our grass. We are both always doing our best to stay satisfied and fulfilled with our professional work - and I hope to keep our passion for positive change burning for many, many more years. In 10 years, I hope that I'm about the same place I am now, with more and deeper relationships. I hope that I'm more in tune with the best place to put my efforts in the world, and more comfortable with all the things I cannot, will not, or do not know.