Ben Leffler Email & Phone Number

City Council District 5

Proudly serving the people of Austin and District 5

I work with federal and state agencies to identify opportunities, improve processes, and deliver better products and services to the public.

Austin, Texas, United States

www.benleffler.com

I enjoy identifying and solving complex problems and collaborating with diverse, multi-disciplinary teams. I've worked on subjects including health care, local government policy, emerging technology and finance.

Austin, Texas

• I worked for clients including the State of California and Houston Methodist Hospital, and my typical day looked like:
• Planning and leading research and usability testing across cross-functional teams
• Leading strategic collaboration workshops with executive stakeholders
• Working with developers and business analysts to vet designs and language for functionality and feasibility
• Implementing content strategies and crafting simple, accessible content
• Coaching, mentoring and providing constructive feedback to junior designers

• I worked for clients including TAG Heuer, Target and Cisco, and my typical day looked like:
• Research, interviews and usability testing
• Storyboarding, persona and user journey creation
• Copywriting and editing
• Implementing naming and tagging conventions
• Capturing metadata, taxonomy and nomenclature guidelines

Office Of Council Member Chris Riley

• On any given day I did things like:
• Built coalitions and cut red tape to improve public services
• Co-authored legislation that made Austin a climate protection leader
• Advised and communicated the Council Member’s agenda to stakeholders, staff and media
• Managed an 8-person team, secured over $15,000 in sponsorships, and coordinated marketing and outreach to produce VivaStreets! (a community health event attended by over 4,000 people)

Austin, Texas

• Wrote and edited content for over 40 mail pieces and oversaw the production process from concept to delivery, reaching over 50,000 individual households.
• Managed up to 7 clients, each running multiple concurrent projects with total revenues exceeding $100,000.
• Conducted opposition research to gain insights that structured each client’s individual narrative.
• Recruited new business.

Austin, Texas Area

• Designed and conducted ethnographic research and user interviews to rebrand yourstoryhouse.com.
• Led business development efforts, focusing on strategic relationships to increase brand awareness and reach potential customers.
• Created and edited content for marketing, blog posts, social media, and website to assure communication channels were clear, concise and tailored to each audience.

Austin, Texas

• Investigated allegations of fraud, waste and abuse by City employees, which resulted in terminations and criminal charges in at least 2 cases.
• Performed financial oversight for $4.5 billion City budget to safeguard taxpayer assets.
• Led public outreach and logistics for the Austin City Council redistricting project to reach a diverse group of citizens across the City.
• Wrote and edited investigative reports for internal and external distribution.
• Prepared presentation materials and led information sessions for over 20 new employees.

Austin, Texas Area

• Identified and contacted new funding sources to support organizational research.
• Wrote initial grant proposals for fund acquisition.
• Increased organizational fluency and communication with clients.

Austin, Texas

• Researched and wrote an original document on carbon capture and sequestration to determine its potential financial and environmental benefits for the City of Austin.
• Collaborated with team members to investigate additional alternative energy innovations and how they could help the City reduce carbon emissions.
• Edited final document for publication and presentation to the client (Austin Energy) to ensure clarity and consistency across all chapters.

Lbj School Of Public Affairs, Master Of Public Affairs

Ba, Government, Psychology