Leotis Sanders is a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Accessibility and Belonging freelance consultant, trainer, speaker and advocate. From 2009-2023 Leotis was Chief of the Office of Civil Rights and Diversity Programs for NJ TRANSIT, New Jersey's public transportation corporation. As Chief, Leotis served as NJ TRANSIT’s Chief Civil Rights Officer and Chief Diversity Officer, supervising four distinct business areas: “The Office of Business Development” which administers NJ TRANSIT’s Disadvantaged and Small Business Enterprise Programs; “ADA Compliance” which ensures corporate-wide compliance with ADA related laws and regulations; “Title VI and Environmental Justice”; which ensures NJ TRANSIT’s programs and services are provided without regard to race, color and national origin; and “Diversity and Inclusion”, which advances inclusion for NJ TRANSIT’s broadly diverse customers, business partners, community partners and employees. Between 2009 and 2017, Leotis was responsible for NJ TRANSIT’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, in addition to the areas above.
Prior to joining NJ TRANSIT in 2009, Leotis worked in the private sector as Director of Workforce Diversity at former Macy’s East, Macy’s then largest retail division. As Director, Leotis was responsible for developing and implementing diversity programs and policies for 30,000 employees around Macy’s recruitment, employee development, community partnership, marketing, and business strategy efforts. In 2006, The Network Journal Magazine honored Leotis as one of the “40 under 40” for his efforts bridging Macy’s Corporate Diversity mission to the communities where Macy’s has their stores. He has designed and presented diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) courses and content, appeared as a guest speaker, and participated on numerous panels for various public, private, and non-profit audiences, addressing the opportunities, challenges, best practices and pitfalls of civil rights and DEI efforts.
Leotis earned dual BA degrees in Philosophy and Religion from the University of Rochester in 1995. In 1996 he earned an MS in Education, in a program built on principles of democratic teaching around issues of race, class and gender, from University of Rochester’s Margaret Warner School of Education. Since then, Leotis has completed courses in Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action, and DEI, from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations and is a Cornell Certified Diversity Professional (CCDP). Leotis also has the National Diversity Council’s DiversityFIRST certification, and has taken numerous courses in civil rights management, instructional design, and transformational communication from various institutions.
Leotis was born and raised in Brooklyn New York and currently resides in Hackensack, New Jersey.