2025 Most Influential Women: Leslie Forrester

Influence means stewardship and responsibility for Springfield Regional Arts Council Inc. Executive Director Leslie Forrester. She’s been leading one of the Ozarks’ flagship arts nonprofits since 2013, ensuring that creativity and culture get a seat at the table across 27 southwest Missouri counties.

“This journey has taken me through staffing changes, scary economic conditions, COVID-19 and now through a funding crisis and culture war,” she says. But, she adds, the journey is “incredibly rewarding,” the responsibility one she feels honored to take up.

Forrester says her approach to leadership manifests in two ways: Sometimes, it’s direct, like budgetary decision-making or arts advocacy with elected officials.

At other times, Forrester says her leadership is advisory, making space for leadership by members of her team.

“The trick,” Forrester says, “is always knowing when to lead the charge and when to allow others the space to guide projects.”

This knowledge is evident through Forrester’s myriad contributions to the community. She teaches at Ozarks Technical Community College, Drury University and Culver-Stockton College as an adjunct instructor. She also has a “side hustle” with Arts Everywhere, a program in conjunction with Missouri Association for Community Arts Agencies and the Missouri Arts Council, with a mission to get MAC funding in 100% of Missouri’s state House districts. In fiscal 2025, she says, the group achieved their goal.

Nicole Chilton, who serves as communications specialist for Springfield Art Museum, describes Forrester’s leadership of the Arts Council as “nothing short of transformational,” noting that a recent Americans for the Arts study revealed that arts and culture generate $89.2 million in direct economic activity around this region, supporting 1,610 jobs.

Chilton noted that Forrester was recently appointed to the Citizens’ Advisory Board, a work group tasked with spending recommendations for Springfield City Council on funds raised from a three-quarter-cent sales tax.

“Her inclusion on this board is a testament to her integrity, insight and deep understanding of how the arts intersect with community development,” Chilton says.

Forrester says that due to new revenues from Springfield’s lodging tax and local foundations, this year the Arts Council has been able to award $220,000 to support arts groups. She counts that among her proudest professional accomplishments.

Forrester notes the Arts Council is developing a full Cultural Plan for the community’s next 15 years.

“My sights are always set on the needs of the community, not on personal gain,” Forrester says. “Creating community, celebrating our unique attributes and developing relationships makes a huge impact.”