On Monday, Sept. 30 Pizza with the Pros welcomed the Executive Director of the Sixers Youth Foundation, Leslie Walker.

Walker does most of her work with the Sixers Youth Foundation, which focuses on youth development, utilizing the power of basketball, and the influence of the 76ers brand to inspire future generations. This year’s star-studded annual gala attended by 76ers legends, current players, and coaches raised a record-setting $1.9 million for youth in the region. Before Walker joined the Sixers, she served in multiple leadership roles for nonprofit organizations in the Philadelphia area.

Walker started in sales when she first got out of college. After doing it for a little, she realized that sales wasn’t something that she felt very strongly about. She would then end up teaching preschool, but yet again, she didn’t believe this was the job she wanted to do for the rest of her career. However, while teaching Walker found herself more interested in the program side of things, rather than the teaching aspect. This led to her discovering her passion, which was working for nonprofit organizations and helping out people in need.

Walker’s first job in a nonprofit was for an agency that worked around child welfare. There, she would buy different resources and create other programs for children between four and five. The families that Walker helped support couldn’t afford to send their kids to school, so providing these resources gave these children a similar experience to the one that they financially couldn’t do.

Walker went on to work for five years with the Free Library of Philadelphia. She started there as the chief of staff, then moved to the interim director. Due to the lack of nonprofit work that the library did, Walker had no desire to be the director. She told the board that she had no interest in becoming the director of the library, but would wait until they found someone else for the position.

When scrolling through LinkedIn, Walker came across a job opportunity to become the Executive Director of the 76ers Youth Foundation. Two days later, she received a call asking for her to come in for an interview. After going through the interview process, Walker’s 30+ years working in a nonprofit paid off, as she got the job.

Getting this job was a dream for Walker, as it combined the two things she loved the most. Walker has been a Philadelphia 76ers fan since she was ten years old. After her father retired from the military, he would introduce Leslie and her older siblings to basketball, which is how she fell in love with the sport. This is very noticeable, as she talked about how even if the team didn’t have an event, she would still come to attend them.

“We do get the opportunity to go sit, watch a game, be a fan, go in jeans, scream my head off, and have a good time,” Walker said.

With all of the nonprofit work that Walker has done throughout her career, it has become certain that she loves doing what she does. One student asked her to describe the feeling of helping young kids through the 76ers Youth Foundation.

“When I really described to you when I was doing sales and I was like this is not getting me up in the morning, every morning I’m excited about the work that I do. I really think that when you’re excited about the work that you do, you’re just going to love going and doing it every day. To know that I have the opportunity to really bring resources that these youth may never have the opportunity to experience, that’s what makes me happy,” Walker said.

Pizza with the Pros will continue next Monday, welcoming Erin Hodges, who is the social media manager for the Philadelphia Eagles.

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