Leslie Mancuso's day-to-day work can have worldwide implications. From support of initiatives in developing countries, such as nurses/midwives screening and treating precancerous lesions in women in a single-patient visit, to a community-based effort to address the No. 1 killer of women, postpartum hemorrhaging, Mancuso advocates for patient care where little is available.

As president and CEO of Jhpiego, pronounced JA-PIE-GO, Mancuso, PhD, RN, FAAN, heads this international health nonprofit organization with more than 600 employees in 55 countries.

She and her staff work closely with leaders in various countries to create solutions tailored to their unique healthcare issues. The results are often low-cost, hands-on procedures carried out by nurses and midwives, in areas where there are few physicians.

From Hope to Jhpiego

A nurse since 1978, Mancuso joined Jhpiego 7 years ago after 13 years with Project Hope. At the helm of Jhpiego, Mancuso utilizes skills learned at Project Hope - finance, fundraising and organization - setting goals to grow Jhpiego into the $85 million business she believes is vital.

Always a Nurse

Nursing as a profession was kindled by her mother Diane, who became an LPN when Leslie was in elementary school. Unable to attend college, Mancuso's mother went to nursing school after she had four children, with financial backing from Mancuso's dad, a truck driver. "My mom worked with the elderly and I took a different path," says Mancuso, who went into pediatrics.

First a neonatal nurse at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, and later in pediatric ICU at Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, she taught for 8 years after earning her master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Pennsylvania.

"You don't always know where your career is going," says Mancuso, happy to be leading Jhpiego. "As a nurse, it's the perfect position for me. It gives me an opportunity to use all the skills we, as nurses, have. I have been able to build this organization, first and foremost, because I am a nurse."