Leila Dickerson is the director of the U.S. Census Bureau’s New York Regional Office.
Leila has held a variety of positions since joining the Census Bureau in 2004 as a cartographic technician in the Atlanta Regional Office. In 2007, she became a geographic specialist who worked on programs leading up to the 2010 Census. That same year, she took an assignment as a regional technician for the 2010 Census and later became an area manager, leading operations for five local census offices in some of the region’s most challenging parts.
In 2016, Leila was promoted to coordinator in the Atlanta Regional Office. This was yet another opportunity for her to use her management and leadership skills. Just one year later, she moved up to assistant regional census manager, working on the runup to the 2020 Census. In this job she helped manage more than 65,000 employees in 42 area census offices across seven states, contributing to the success of one of the nation’s most challenging censuses.
She was honored for her leadership with several awards – including one for helping to complete 2020 Census operations overcoming challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic – which hit the United States in March 2020 – by accelerating the implementation of health and safety protocols limiting the potential impact on workers.
Leila has a bachelor’s degree in management from the University of Phoenix. She is a 2014 graduate of the Atlanta Federal Executive Board Peak Performance Leadership Program, and served on Georgia’s Clayton County Grassroots Leadership Institute Board from 2008 to 2017.
Leila is a volunteer dance teacher, who teaches dance to about 23 young people (between the ages of 5 and 24 years) on Saturday mornings. She is also a mentor to girls and women, ages 14 to 20, and teaches Sunday School to teenagers and young adults. Moreover, she is a founding member of ViZion Dance International and a proud member of Iota Phi Lambda Sorority, Inc. (the first African American business and professional sorority).
