Leon C. Collins is a media executive, media educator, producer/director, script writer, and photographic artist. Collins is recognized as one of the first prominent African-American public television management pioneers in the United States.
Leon Collins was born in Washington, DC, on May 20, 1949. He received his Master of Arts degree from Antioch College in 1976. His Masters thesis was entitled “Black perspectives – Inner reality of visual thinking”. The research problem contained in the thesis examined imagery as cognition (a strategy for acquiring awareness and understanding of the phenomena of reality) and media as an educational instrument.
As part of the television generation, Leon was intrigued by the potential power and influence of film and television, with the perception and long range vision of a black owned, black-run TV station. In 1969, Collins was selected to become an intern at WETA-TV PBS in Washington, DC, during his junior year at Howard University, majoring in cinematography and television production. Leon, eventually became president of the National Association of Blacks in Public Broadcasting while working at the University of Houston.
For over three decades, Collins has held a variety of leadership and consulting positions, domestically and internationally with non governmental organizations, public broadcasting, and commercial broadcasting and community radio stations. These positions involved working with the following institutions: Executive Producer, iMichigan Productions; Director, Education and Leadership Programs, The Phelps Stokes Fund; Member PBS Board of Directors; General Manager, University of Michigan Public Broadcasting TV 28 PBS; Consultant, KQED TV PBS; Executive Director of Broadcasting, University of Houston PBS; Vice President, General Manager WPFW FM radio in Washington, DC; Production Consultant, WLII TV Lorimar Telepictures in Puerto Rico; and Station Manager WTJX TV PBS in the US Virgin Islands.
A recent leadership position was with The Phelps Stokes Fund, which is North America's oldest continuously operating foundation dedicated to Education for Human Development in Africa, the African Diaspora in the Americas, indigenous communities in the Americas and other underserved and marginalized populations. Leon's major assignment with the Fund included working with board members, elected officials, members of the United States Congress, faith based organizations, members of the press, consultants, graphic artists, IT web designers and other stakeholders. His portfolio included five programs, which required working with domestic foundations, individual donors for educational programs, and the United States Agency for International Development and its contractors. The highlight of this assignment was working with seven community radio organizations in Liberia, West Africa, consisting of one hundred women and girls. A training program was developed and implemented for producing radio programs, which were broadcast to community radio stations and the United Nations Mission in Liberia Radio (UNMIL) that reached over three million people. The produced community radio programs focused on media literacy, gender issues, health, HIV/AIDS, malaria, and overall empowerment of women, girls and children in Liberia, West Africa.
A highlight in Leon's career was when he became Executive in Charge of Production for "A World Transformed: Our Reflections on Ending the Cold War", hosted by former President George H.W. Bush, and moderated by Jim Lehrer of PBS. Five world leaders: George H. W. Bush (former President of the United States 1989-1993), Mikhail Gorbachev (former General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 1985-1991), Margaret Thatcher (former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1979-1990), Brian Mulroney (former Prime Minister of Canada 1984-1993) and François Mitterrand (former President of the French Republic 1981-1995) gathered at a private daylong summit in Colorado Springs,Colorado as part of a weekend fundraiser for the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Center. They were the world leaders when the Berlin Wall came down, the Soviet Union was dissolved, the Cold War ended, East and West Germany united, and the U.S. emerged as the world's only superpower. Houston PBS was there filming and documenting this historic event, and then edited the 41-hour discussions of these former world leaders into a 90-minute documentary. These discussions revealed the unprecedented foreign policy insights as these former world leaders spoke, as private citizens with their personal recollections and individual roles in history. The 90 minute summit special was distributed to PBS stations and international distributors.
One of Leon's involvements in supporting community development projects was when he became the Director of the Mott Community College (MCC) Community Technology Centers. These five centers were a partnership with the University of Michigan-Flint, The City of Flint and Comcast Cable, and were designed to serve economically disadvantaged residents, Hispanics and people with disabilities living in low-income areas of Flint, Michigan. Leon directed the day to day administrative processes, involving the coaching of center directors and staff for the development of curriculum and the development of a structured learning program, designed for individuals interested in gaining job skills. Center users were also able to utilize live video financial aid and admissions seminars at MCC and communicate with other video conferencing sites. Local residents developed technology skills with free introductory computer courses, computer ownership incentives, and gained advanced job development skills through mentors, job shadowing, PBS YOU (Your Own University) and tutorials at the centers.