A Day With Leslie McReynolds

Leslie McReynolds is the CEO of the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona

6:30 A.M. >> TWO- & FOUR-LEGGED CHAOS

I get up before our 6-year-old son and start my day by making coffee, taking care of our cat and Golden Retriever puppy, checking my email and putting on jazz or coffeehouse music to bring a little calm to the morning chaos. Once I wake up our son, my husband and I tag team preparing breakfast and lunch. Everything happens simultaneously, and by the time I’m making breakfast, I’m receiving Teams messages and emails, even though the workday starts at 8 a.m.

I prioritize my work correspondence as I’m finishing a sandwich for the lunch box and getting our son off to school. Once I come back, I usually reheat my untouched coffee and check in with my husband about the day ahead.

8:15 A.M. >> THE TUESDAY BUBBLE

I spend time determining the top five priorities of the day, because the unexpected always happens. We work a hybrid schedule where every Tuesday, the entire team meets. We execute a vast number of programs and services for the state of Arizona. People wear many hats, so we use every minute of the meeting to check in on struggles and successes. It’s important we all have the opportunity to hear where someone needs support and find a solution. The meeting also creates a reflective bubble where everyone slows down and shares something great that happened, either personally or professionally.

10 A.M. >> THE $10 MILLION MISSION

My role focuses on four areas — fundraising, programs, administrative and policy. When I work with our “lean and mean” fundraising team, we discuss strategy and trends. I enjoy using my marketing background to work with them on donor communication and gratitude plans, new donor packages and messaging strategies.

We have a $10 million programmatic campaign underway called “Hero to Hero,” which entered the public phase last year. We are strategically thinking about how we can not only raise the last $2 million but also use the campaign as a “friendraiser” during the fall giving season to let more people know about the great work we do.

NOON >> SEROTONIN FOR THE SOUL

I try to be intentional about making time for myself when I work from home. I make lunch and eat in the kitchen, not at my desk. I also do one personal thing on my mind, whether it’s a phone call to a friend or family member, buying tickets for that thing my husband and I have been talking about, or petting the puppy. This gives me a little serotonin boost to hop back in and focus on the professional work.

1 P.M. >> A PROMISE TO SERVE

My background was in PR and marketing prior to joining the Kidney Foundation 15 years ago. I was exploring going in-house somewhere and saw that the organization was looking for a marketing person. I didn’t know anything about kidneys, but I knew that being of service was something I desired. My family was in a car accident when I was young, and my father has been in a wheelchair since. When I was looking at nonprofits, it was important to me to help those dealing with the unexpected, because that resonated with me.

I’m the kind of person who likes to learn. As people left the organization over the years, I offered to step in because I care deeply about the mission and wanted to know each and every corner of it. I advanced through several roles until I became CEO right before the pandemic hit. Every day, I hope to make our founders proud.

2:30 P.M. >> WORKING THE PLAN

When I stepped into the CEO role, my goal was to return funding to our reserves and make the organization sustainable for another 60 years. Part of the plan to achieve this is to diversify our funding. As we have grown exponentially, so has the need. Over the last year, we’ve had conversations regarding our direct patient aid programs, free health screenings and professional education programs. The central debate is whether we should match the size of these programs to our fundraising results, or grow our larger programs to be self-sustaining and stop fundraising for them specifically.

4 P.M. >> A PERFECT WORLD

In addition to the emergency patient aid we provide, our free community health screenings have expanded exponentially because we’re targeting underserved communities. These on-site tests and physician consultations help identify chronic issues early enough to do something about it.

Most of the time, when a kidney patient finds out their kidneys are in failure, it’s because the symptoms have been quiet for so long, and they did not know. It’s now too late, and they’re on dialysis, needing a transplant. Our vision is a world where no one needs our services because everyone is proactive about their health and catches issues early.

5:30 P.M. >> EVENING LOVE & LICKS

I enjoy evening time with my family. I check in with our son to hear how his day went. We always have dinner together, and my husband, son and I each talk about two good things that happened that day.

I am an evening owl. My husband and I have an understanding that some nights I rest easier knowing I responded to emails or completed a project. I love the peace of a candle, lamp and my laptop. I have a hard time not being reactive to individuals’ needs throughout the day, so my priorities sit with that quiet time at night. I conclude my evening with a nightcap and watch a show with my husband. We both decompress as best we can with a Golden Retriever puppy climbing all over us.

To learn more, go to azkidney.org.