Leslie Ford

Les Ford is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, where she focuses on empowering vulnerable citizens. She focuses her research on the entirety of the safety net: reforming welfare so low-income Americans can build flourishing lives; transforming U.S. health care to be free-market based and consumer-oriented; ensuring individuals with disabilities are empowered; and strengthening child welfare so every child is safe.

Before joining FREOPP, Les was Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy the White House’s Domestic Policy Council from 2018–2020, where she worked to fulfill the president’s objective to empower all Americans by implementing the executive order, “Reducing Poverty in America by Promoting Opportunity and Economic Mobility.” Les also led the White House initiative to draft the executive order “Strengthening the Child Welfare System for America’s Children.” Before that, Les served as a legislative advisor to Senator Mike Lee on health care, welfare reform, education, labor, religious freedom, and child welfare policy.

Les is also the President of Ford Policy Solutions, a member of the Virginia Board of Social Services, and a Senior Fellow at the Alliance for Opportunity. Les, her husband, and their four children live in Alexandria, Virginia.