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We strive to help our clients conceive, develop, and design content that meets the highest standards of intellectual, editorial, and visual integrity.
We also endeavor to create a collaborative workplace where world-class editorial, graphic design, and video experts feel valued and can do their best work.
Separate from the pack
Why we’re different
We’ve been creating content for DECADES
Before content was a buzzword, we worked for and with thought leaders from leading organizations such as the McKinsey Quarterly, Deloitte, and Smithsonian magazine to bring ideas to life. Content is our lives’ work.
We excel at SIMPLIFYING the complex
We take complex topics and transform them into compelling, narrative-driven stories. Our industry experience ranges from technology and cybersecurity to healthcare and financial services.
We know what GOOD looks like
At Leff, we are more than a little obsessed with quality. We take an audience-first approach and pair it with razor-sharp logic to create compelling narratives and design.
We take the pain out of creating GREAT content
Our proven processes provide the structure and transparency you need to set expectations about the resources and time required for success. And we deliver on time and on budget.
We PERSIST until it’s great
There’s always a way. Give us your raw data and research, your rough drafts and abstract concepts, and we will work to exceed your expectations. We do what we say we’re going to do, ask a lot of questions, and push back when necessary in our relentless pursuit of quality.
Meet Leff
Our team
We work hard for our clients and we work together, and we think that shines through in the final product. If you walk into Leff you’re sure to hear the clicks from our keyboards, a lot of laughter, and the crackle of vinyl. And if it’s happy hour, the clink of a glass or two.
Jennifer Bulat
Managing Editor
she/her/hers
Jen joined Leff in November 2020. She loves working with words and previously manned and managed copy desks for newspapers, magazines, and B2B products. When she’s not moving things through Leff’s robust production pipeline, she’s usually reading fiction, watching documentaries, or solving or creating crossword puzzles, most likely with ’80s music playing in the background.
What she’s playing on the Leff turntable:
Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble, Couldn't Stand the Weather
Prince, 1999
Tina Cai
Editor
Tina joined Leff in May 2021 from McKinsey, where she spent three years consulting on talent, culture, and organizational design. She works on client campaigns, content strategy, and thought leadership pieces across various industries. She lives in Southern California and enjoys being outdoors with her miniature schnauzer mix named Jeiko.
What she’s playing on the Leff turntable:
Sergei Rachmaninoff, Symphony No. 2
Luke Collins
SVP, Content Strategy
he/him/his
Luke joined Leff in May 2021 to oversee thought leadership and content strategy. He was a print journalist in his native Australia before stumbling into thought leadership. Since then, he has held roles including as an executive editor at McKinsey & Company, as a leader of Deloitte Insights, and as the Global Editor-in-Chief at EY. Luke moved to the States in 2001, married a western New Yorker, and now has two sons. He still remains loyal to cricket and Aussie Rules Football (AFL), meat pies, and Vegemite (not necessarily in that order).
What he’s playing on the Leff turntable:
Phil Collins, No Jacket Required
Margaret Currie
Editor
Margaret joined the Leff team in April 2021. She has previous experience as an independent communications consultant in the nonprofit sector, working primarily with colleges and universities in student recruitment and fundraising.
What she’s playing on the Leff turntable:
Jethro Tull, Aqualung
Erik Delfin
Design Associate
he/him/his
Erik has been with Leff since August 2020. A member of the design team, he helps develop layouts, visual charts, and infographics for clients. In his free time, he enjoys working out, studying Japanese, playing guitar, and relaxing with an occasional video game binge.
What he’s playing on the Leff turntable:
The Strokes, First Impressions of Earth
No Doubt, Tragic Kingdom
Justin Durkin
Designer
Justin joined Leff in 2017 and currently works on both print and web design. He focuses on enjoyable, understandable, and usable design through fundamentals that follow intuitive navigation, information design, and bold typography. He takes the lead on new formats and creative approaches to both static and interactive content for clients. When he isn’t designing, he’s likely watching movies or listening to music.
What he’s playing on the Leff turntable:
Chicano Batman, Freedom Is Free
Descendents, Milo Goes to College
Mac Demarco, 2
Violent Femmes, Violent Femmes
Weezer, Weezer (Blue Album)
Katie Edwards
Designer
she/her/hers
Prior to joining Leff, Katie worked as a print operator and a freelance designer. She studied graphic design with a focus on printing, typography, and design history at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is interested in the ways in which traditional and digital design can overlap and interact. She's lived in and repeatedly fallen in love in Chicago for almost 6 years and isn't sure why anyone would want to live anywhere else.
What she’s playing on the Leff turntable:
The Beatles, A Hard Day's Night
David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars
Marvin Gaye, What's Going On
The Strokes, First Impressions of Earth
Jake Godziejewicz
Senior Designer
Jake specializes in working with business writers and editors to visualize complex data and information. Before coming to Leff, Jake began his career at McKinsey & Company, eventually joining the McKinsey Quarterly team. He has also worked as a freelance designer for several movie and music projects.
What he’s playing on the Leff turntable:
Iron Maiden, Piece of Mind
Thin Lizzy, China Town
Dokken, Under Lock and Key
Wishbone Ash, Argus
Kiss, Love Gun
Allan R. Gold
Senior Adviser
Allan recently retired from McKinsey & Company, the management consulting firm, after 22 years in its editorial and publishing group. He lived and worked in Asia, Europe, and North America, collaborating on content with every McKinsey functional and sector practice, with a concentration on emerging markets.
Over the years, Allan served on the board of editors and as editor-in-chief of the McKinsey Quarterly, the firm’s flagship publication; as editor of www.mckinseyquarterly.com (subsequently absorbed into www.mckinsey.com); and as an executive editor in the firm’s publishing group. He edited "Alchemy of Growth" (Perseus and Orion) and the third edition of "Valuation: Measuring and Managing the Value of Companies" (John Wiley). Allan also was a contributing editor to “The Price Advantage” (John Wiley) and “Reimagining Japan” (Shogakukan and Simon & Schuster).
Before joining McKinsey, Allan was an editor, reporter, and correspondent at the International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, the Miami Herald, and the Tallahassee Democrat. He received an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and an MSJ and BA from Northwestern University.
What he’s playing on the Leff turntable:
Miles Davis, Kind of Blue
Bruce Springsteen, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
Muddy Waters, Hard Again
Traffic, The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys
Kiss, Love Gun
Karen Henrie
Senior Editor
Before joining Leff in April 2021, Karen previously spent eight years at Deloitte where she oversaw the firm’s sponsored content on wsj.com. Karen has also held editorial positions at Booz & Company and McKinsey & Company. She and her husband have two daughters. To maintain sanity, Karen needs to move, whether it's hiking, swimming, playing racquet sports, or walking with friends. Her favorite podcasts include Heavyweight and Freakonomics Radio.
What she's putting on the Leff turntable:
Aretha, Lady Soul
Amy Winehouse
Iris Dement
Ugnė Jurgaitytė
Designer
she/her/hers
Ugnė joined the Leff team in 2021. She previously led corporate design projects at IKEA. Her passion centers on brand identity and visual standards, and she is using her interdisciplinary experience on new projects and ventures here. She is most often found sharing a screen with her cuddly Japanese bobtail named Archie.
What she's putting on the Leff turntable:
Glass Animals, Zaba
Scott Leff
Founder and President
he/him/his
Scott founded Leff in 2010 after working for Chicago 2016, the city’s Olympic bid committee. Prior to that, he served a seven-year stint with the McKinsey Quarterly, the world’s leading journal of management and economics.
What he's playing on the Leff turntable:
Sly and the Family Stone, Fresh
The Who, Quadrophenia
Prince, 1999
Mimi Li
Senior Editor
she/her/hers
Mimi started her career in corporate finance and operations management. She worked in aerospace, biotech, and industrial operations before moving in to business communications. She has special interests in culturally specific communications and enjoys working with people who have strong opinions.
What She's playing on the Leff turntable:
Michael Jackson, Thriller
Thin Lizzy, Chinatown
Prince, 1999
Annie Mullowney
Senior Editor
she/her/hers
Annie worked in marketing and taught college-level writing, humanities, and speech before joining the Leff team. While pursuing her bachelor’s in Literature and master’s in Writing and Publishing, she took every opportunity she had to travel, including completing the Camino de Santiago, a 500-mile walking pilgrimage in northern Spain.
What she's playing on the Leff turntable:
Blondie, Parallel Lines
Fleetwood Mac, Rumours
Heart, Dreamboat Annie
Daniel Mutz
Associate Managing Editor
Before joining Leff in 2021, Daniel worked in book publishing, both print and digital. He now continues that work—the editing, proofing, and moving of copy—within Leff’s production pipeline. When he’s not considering the usefulness or function of a written word, he’s exploring its sacred, symbolic, and lyrical performance. And, of course, he has yet to see a Ken Burns documentary that he hasn’t enjoyed.
What he's playing on the Leff turntable:
Allman Brothers, Brothers and Sisters
Pink Floyd, Meddle
Neil Young, Harvest
David Peak
Senior Editor
he/him/his
After earning both an MFA and BFA in creative writing from Columbia College Chicago, David moved to New York and worked for a literary agency specializing in memoir and nonfiction. Hopelessly missing the grim Chicago winters, he soon moved back to the City by the Lake. Prior to joining Leff he held editorial roles at McKinsey & Company and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and he currently spends his nights teaching college-level courses on composition and rhetoric.
His Leff turntable picks:
Mission of Burma, Vs.
Sonic Youth, Daydream Nation
Kraftwerk, The Man-Machine
David Bowie, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Tiana Pigford
Marketing Associate
Tiana joined Leff in October 2020 as a copy editor with a background in marketing, public relations, and print journalism. After working with Leff Strategy Studio, she now focuses on marketing, social media (internally and for clients), newsletters, and competitive audits, with some editing and project management thrown into the mix. She enjoys volunteering and is involved in GW's Chicago alumni chapter and the Alliance Française. She loves mob movies and listening to Christmas music throughout the year.
Her Leff turntable picks:
Sam Cooke, The Best of Sam Cooke
Buena Vista Social Club
Nat King Cole, Greatest Hits
Mariah Carey, Merry Christmas
Mary C. Reddy
Senior Adviser
she/her/hers
Mary retired from McKinsey & Company in 2020, after 21 years as the data visualization editor for the McKinsey Quarterly. During that time, she developed data stories for a range of publication channels. Working in small teams with digital-publishing colleagues, she brought data insights, visual structure, and UI/UX considerations to interactive pieces, including the inaugural run of the McKinsey Quarterly Five Fifty. Mary enjoys painting in oils—her favorite color is cerulean blue. But surprisingly, her pieces are not paint by number.
What she's putting on the Leff turntable:
Jason Isbell, Southeastern
Bruce Springsteen, Letter to You
Dolores Keane and John Faulkner, Farewell to Eirinn: Music and Songs of Emigration from Ireland
Alia Samhat
VP, Strategy and Planning
Alia came to Leff after years in the agency world in Chicago and magazine publishing in New York. Before working in marketing and communications, Alia spent two years living and working in Ukraine, where she focused on educational development and nationwide HIV/AIDS outreach and funding.
What she’s putting on the Leff turntable:
Michael Bolton, Soul Provider
David Bowie, Let’s Dance
Janis Joplin, I Got Dem Ol' Kozmic Blues Again Mama!
Boris Strelchin
Controller
Boris joined Leff in March 2021, handling all the major accounting, HR, and finance responsibilities. He previously worked at an adjacent corporate communications and internal communications firm for nearly seven years. Prior to that, he worked in the leasing division of a bank. He enjoys slice-of-life films, squats, and Japanese automobiles. He dislikes brunch.
What he’s putting on the Leff turntable:
Slowdive, Slowdive
Tears for Fears, Songs from the Big Chair
Sonic Youth, Daydream Nation
Morgan Strunsky
Editorial Associate
Morgan joined the Leff team in October 2020. He works as a copy editor and proofreader and also assists with the Leff blog. A native of upstate New York, he relocated to Chicago and enjoys the city life. In his free time, he loves playing Dungeons and Dragons, writing music and poetry, and cooking.
What he’s putting on the Leff turntable:
Steely Dan, Aja
Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin III
Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home
Brittany Williams
Editorial Director
she/her/hers
With a background in literary journalism and copy editing, Brittany has been with Leff since the "early days" of 2013. She specializes in working with global teams on articles and long-form reports for a variety of industries, including healthcare, infrastructure, insurance, and urban development. She earned an MA at DePaul University and a BS at Northwestern University.
What she's putting on the Leff turntable:
Anything by Aretha Franklin
Lady Gaga, Joanne
Panic! at the Disco, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
Delilah Zak
Design Director
The principal visualization artist of Leff Communications, Delilah works collaboratively with the team to conceptualize and create all manner of graphic content. She came to Leff after ten years at McKinsey & Company, where she served as senior designer and associate design director.
What she's putting on the Leff turntable:
Dokken, Under Lock and Key
Blondie, Parallel Lines
Scorpions, In Trance
Saxon, Wheels of Steel
Michael Bolton, Soul Provider
Checkout the office playlist: