Principal and Founder
Leveraged Leadership Group, LLC
Mitchellville, Md.
At 28 years old, Artis G. Hampshire-Cowan became the attorney and chief compliance officer for the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, a super agency that regulates health, safety, economic development, and quality of life in Washington, D.C.
At 33, she was named general counsel for RFK Stadium in D.C. and led the negotiations to build a new stadium for the 1988 Super Bowl Champions, the Washington Football Team. “My kindergarten teacher told me I had gifts from God of being smart and being a people person, but my talking too much when I finished my assignments distracted other kids. She said, ‘you are going to be somebody important one day… but only if you learn to discipline yourself,’ ” Hampshire-Cowan recalls.
Hampshire-Cowan became “somebody important,” thanks in no small measure to her father. “He taught and disciplined me to be self-motivated in the pursuit of excellence and helping others,” she offers. She is the principal of Leveraged Leadership Group (LLG), a consultancy specializing in corporate governance and organizational development. She established the firm in 2007, while serving Howard University as senior vice president and secretary, interim chief operating officer and acting president.
In 1991, Hampshire-Cowan co-founded and served as Board Chair of Bright Beginnings, providing childcare, on-site therapeutic and other family support services to help address the growing population of homeless children. “Servant leadership propels me,” she states.
Hampshire-Cowan has a bachelor’s degree (with honors) from Morris Brown College, a law degree from Temple University Law School, and certificates from Harvard University’s Institute for Higher Education Management. She dreams of ensuring that every young person has an excellent education and excels in reading, writing, and math; learns their civic responsibility and understands the values of spiritual character development. “If I only had the time and money,” she muses.
