Leslie Gilbert-Lurie '81, J.D. '84 of Human Rights Watch

Bruin Success

Leslie Gilbert-Lurie is a lawyer, human rights and children’s rights advocate, author, philanthropist, and former television executive. She is also an active member of the DNC National Finance Committee and the Biden for President Southwest Finance Committee.

Leslie is a member of the International Board of Directors of Human Rights Watch (HRW), where she is Chair of the Nominating and Governance Committee. She is also the Past Co-Chair of HRW’s Los Angeles Committee and a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy.

As a Founding Board Member and past Board Chair of the Alliance for Children’s Rights, Leslie has been instrumental in guiding a leading legal rights organization for abused, at-risk, and foster youth. In further advance of child welfare reform, Gilbert-Lurie served as the Vice-Chair of the Los Angeles Blue Ribbon Commission on Child Welfare, which led to widespread policy change in Los Angeles County.

Leslie has worked to improve public education in a variety of settings. She is a member of the UCLA Foundation Board of Directors, and Chair of its Nominating and Governance Committee. She is a member of the Board of Advisors to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and the UCLA School of Law. As a student at UCLA, she was the Student Regent on the Board of Regents of the University of California. She also served for over a decade on the Los Angeles County Board of Education, and she was President of the Board for three terms.

Gilbert-Lurie’s memoir, Bending Toward the Sun, published by Harper Collins, chronicles her mother's experience in the Holocaust and the intergenerational transmission of trauma. She has spoken in a variety of countries and across the US about the book, the Holocaust, and its implications for the world.

Leslie spent her earlier career as a television executive at NBC, where she oversaw NBC Productions and the comedy division, co-wrote television episodes for Alf and Saved by the Bell, and co-founded an in-house production company, Lurie-Horwits Productions. She later consulted for USA Network and Disney Television. As a lawyer, Gilbert-Lurie worked at the law firm of Manatt, Phelps, Rothenberg and Tunney, and she served as a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Law Clerk for Judge Harry Pregerson.

Bruin Success is hosted by Katie Russo, produced by Christian Chavez '13 and made possible by UCLA Alumni.