Being a first is not a foreign concept to Dr. Laurie Leshin.
She was one of the first women to advise two presidents on space policy. She also served as the first female president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. Now, she’s leading the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge as the first ever woman director of the institution.
“At some point, you get used to being that first and embracing the opportunity,” explains Leshin, who is also a distinguished geochemist and space scientist. “I think for a lot of women in science/tech, it’s about supporting each other and amplifying other women.”
As the trailblazer is set to celebrate her first anniversary of joining JPL in a few weeks, the Lab overall has reached a significant milestone: for the first time since JPL was founded in the 1930s, more than 2,000 women are now working for the institution, making up about 30% of the Lab’s workforce.
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Since arriving in La Cañada Flintridge, one of the things Leshin did is to improve paid parental leave policy.
“I was hearing it wasn’t adequate,” the leader recalls. “There’s something about being able to see someone in the leadership role that has deeper understanding and experience for what women go through.”
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With potentially ground-breaking projects in the pipeline, Leshin says diversity will be the fuel to fire all cylinders at JPL. Among the upcoming missions is “Mars Sample Return,” during which rocks on Mars would be picked up and brought back to Earth.
“We get to do awe-inspiring things in the space. But you can’t do it alone,” Leshin says. “Our Motto at JPL is, ‘Dare mighty things.’ But I added a word since I’ve been here: ‘Dare mighty things – together’ because no one person can send a rover, no one person can solve climate change. We have to do this as a team.”
The JPL director says her secret to success is not always taking the straight path.
“When I get a call like, ‘Hey, do you want to think about something different for a while?’ I would often take it,” Leshin recalls.
“I was in academia for a long time. I ditched a tenure to join the government for six years. Then I came back to academia -- then back in NASA. [I enjoyed taking] the zig-zag path because it can broaden your experience and make you a better leader. Don’t be afraid to take a bit of a right turn.”
