Leirion Gaylor Baird was elected to the Lincoln City Council as an at-large representative in 2013 and was re-elected in 2017. Prior to joining the Council, Leirion was a Lincoln/Lancaster County Planning Commissioner. Leirion began her career as a management consultant, helping Fortune 500 companies become more efficient. She has also worked as a city budget and policy analyst and as the director of a Boys & Girls Club after-school and summer enrichment program designed to improve educational outcomes for children from low-income families.
Leirion has been recognized locally and nationally for her work on the Council. In 2016, she received the Lincoln Journal-Star’s Inspire Award for Excellence in Government Service, and was one of 24 elected officials from across the country selected by the Aspen Institute for a Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership. Rodel Fellows are awarded to “elected officials who have demonstrated an outstanding ability to work responsibly across partisan divisions and bring greater civility to public discourse.” In 2014, Leirion was selected as one of 12 leaders from across the country to join the NewDEAL, a national network committed to highlighting innovative ideas from pro-growth state and local elected leaders.
Leirion currently serves on the Lincoln Community Foundation Board of Directors, the Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent’s Community Advisory Council, and the University of Nebraska President’s Advisory Council. She also has been a co-chair of Friendship Home’s Keys of Hope campaign, and on the boards of Family Service, the Friends of the Pioneers Park Nature Center, and the Friends of the Lincoln Children’s Museum.
Leirion has a B.A. in History from Yale and a Master’s degree in Comparative Social Policy from Oxford. She and her husband, Scott, have three children.
Sneak Peek Into What You’ll Learn…
02:27 – Leirion tells us about her career and life journey that led her to the City Council of Lincoln, Nebraska.
06:11 – Leirion provides concrete advice to working moms trying to decide whether or not to stay a home with the kids for a season
09:20 – We learn ways to make sure you maintain your skills and remain relevant should you decide to be a stay-at-home mom with plans to re-enter the workforce at a later date.
11:25 – Leirion shares how she decided to run for elected office.
14:42 – Leirion helps us understand how she juggles the public scrutiny that’s part of running a political campaign with family life.
17:49 – Leirion tells us the advice she would give to someone thinking about stepping into the public arena.
20:51 – Leirion shares what we would be surprised to learn about how she juggles a life as an elected official while raising three kids.
25:10 – Brass Tacks— The lightning round of concrete advice and tips.
Quotable quotes:
- “The more that you can build your resume prior to stepping away from the workforce, the more marketable you are, the more desirable you are (when you decide to return).”
- “It helps to work for a progressive employer that recognizes that having happy, healthy employees is good for their bottom line too.”
- “One of the things I thought about as I considered it (running for public office) was what kind of example it would set for my three kids…I wanted to show them not only what I was capable of, but what women are capable of…I wanted to them to see a woman behind the microphone in City Hall.”
- “Part of me thought to myself, I could run from this opportunity or I could turn around and run towards it. I really do want to look back at my life at the end of it and think, you know I chose to do extraordinary things.”
- “So often it’s easy to listen to the voices in our head that say well, I’m not sure I’m qualified…I’m not sure I can do this…I tried to tune out those voices…”
- “I would tell people not to underestimate themselves, to not underestimate their own power. If they’re passionate about an issue, if they care about something in their community, that’s all you really need fueling you to success.”
- “If I take a little bit of time a few days a week to take care of my physical body, then I am much more prepared to give to other people….”
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