Leslie C. Harwood
Candidate for Town Council · Town of Blacksburg · Independent
On the ballot for Virginia's November 3, 2026 election.
Campaign finances
From 5 reports filed with the Virginia Department of Elections, covering Feb 20, 2026 to Sep 30, 2026: $3,622.00 raised and $2,026.67 spent. Cash on hand: $1,595.33.
About Leslie C. Harwood
I've called Blacksburg home for most of the past 26 years. Like so many people who fall in love with this community, I first came here as a student at Virginia Tech and never really left. Over the years, Blacksburg became much more than the place where I went to school. It became my home, my community, and the place where I chose to build my life. I'm a Triple Hokie, having earned three degrees from Virginia Tech, and I spent more than a decade working for the university. My career has taken me to other places at different times, but Blacksburg has always been home, and I have always come back. I think that experience has actually given me a greater appreciation for what makes this community special. I've seen what other places have to offer, and every time I've been reminded why Blacksburg is worth investing in, protecting, and continually working to make better. Service has been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember. Growing up in Southwest Virginia, my years in 4-H helped shape my commitment to leadership, service, responsibility, and community. Those values have followed me throughout my life. I've volunteered with organizations including Habitat for Humanity and the Montgomery County Christmas Store, and most recently I served as Volunteer Coordinator for Pete Macedo's 2025 campaign for Mayor of Blacksburg. That campaign gave me the opportunity to spend countless hours talking with people throughout Blacksburg. I heard what they love about this town, what they hope for its future, and what frustrates them. One thing I heard repeatedly was that people care deeply about Blacksburg, but too many no longer feel like their voices are being heard or that they understand how and why decisions are being made. Those conversations were an important part of what ultimately led me to run for Town Council myself. Professionally, I'm a program manager and strategic consultant, and I've spent more than a decade managing complicated programs involving universities, government agencies, private partners, researchers, and multidisciplinary teams. Much of my career has involved taking something with a lot of moving pieces and figuring out how to bring the right people together, create a plan, solve problems, and actually get something done. At the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, I helped build the Safety through Disruption National University Transportation Center from its earliest stages. The five-year, $28 million federally funded research program involved multiple universities and dozens of coordinated research projects focused on improving transportation safety. Building a program of that size required creating processes and partnerships, coordinating people with different expertise and priorities, communicating constantly, and making sure all of those individual pieces were working toward a larger goal. That experience has shaped the way I look at many of the challenges facing Blacksburg today. Housing doesn't exist separately from transportation. Transportation affects economic development. Economic development affects our tax base. Development decisions affect infrastructure, neighborhoods, businesses, and the character of our community. And many of these issues are intertwined with our relationship with Virginia Tech. I don't think complicated problems like these are solved by one person walking into a room with all the answers. My career has taught me the opposite. The best solutions usually come from bringing the right people together, listening to people who know things you don't, asking the right questions, understanding how the pieces connect, and working toward a shared goal. That is the kind of leadership I want to bring to Town Council. I also believe we have tremendous resources right here in Blacksburg that we aren't using nearly as well as we could. We have longtime residents with decades of knowledge about this community. We have business owners, nonprofits, professionals, retirees, families, Virginia Tech faculty and staff, and thousands of incredibly talented students who bring new knowledge and ideas into Blacksburg every year. During this campaign, I wanted to find better ways to involve Virginia Tech students in our community, so I started asking them to get involved. That simple decision resulted in a team of student interns helping research issues facing Blacksburg, examining what other communities are doing, looking at policy and data, and bringing new perspectives and ideas to the table. They are gaining meaningful experience, but I am learning from them too. That is how I approach problems. I listen. I ask questions. I do my homework. I find people who know things I don't. I'm willing to speak up and respectfully disagree. And when I believe something is worth doing, I'm willing to keep working to move it forward. My campaign is centered on greater transparency and communication, thoughtful long-term planning, rebuilding trust between residents and their local government, strengthening the relationship between Blacksburg and Virginia Tech, bringing more voices into the decision-making process, and creating a culture where good ideas can actually move forward. I want residents to know where Blacksburg is going, understand the plan for getting there, and have meaningful opportunities to help shape that direction. I want us to communicate earlier instead of after decisions are nearly made. I want us to ask hard questions and be willing to reconsider the way we've always done things. And I want our Town and Virginia Tech to recognize that our futures are intertwined and that we can accomplish far more by working together. I am not a career politician. I'm a neighbor, a volunteer, a program manager, a problem-solver, and someone who cares deeply about the place I call home. I'm running for Town Council because I believe leadership should be about listening, bringing people together, asking hard questions, and then doing the work necessary to turn good ideas into action. I want people to be proud of Blacksburg as it is today and excited about where it is heading. And I want everyone who calls this community home to understand where we are going and know that they have a voice in deciding how we get there. Because Blacksburg doesn't belong to Town Council. It belongs to all of us. And I want to help bring people together to write the next chapter of Blacksburg's future--together.