Lesley Lewis

Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Science Centre

Lesley Lewis was named CEO of the Ontario Science Centre in 1998. Beginning in 2000, she spearheaded the planning process that resulted in the $47.5 million Agents of Change transformation. Under Ms. Lewis’ leadership, the Science Centre’s vision is to extend its audience reach and relevance.

Ms Lewis is the Immediate Past President of the Board of Directors of the Washington-based Association of Science Technology Centers (ASTC), the major global science centre organization, having served as President from 2007 to 2009. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Tourism Toronto. Ms Lewis was the Chair of the Fifth Science Centre World Congress which was hosted by the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto in 2008 and led the development of the Toronto Declaration which was the science centre field’s first-ever shared global statement of beliefs and goals.

Over the past five years, Ms. Lewis has been active in international forums speaking on the changes underway at the Ontario Science Centre and the evolution of a new model for public engagement with science. She is an invited member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Board Appointed Committee on Public Understanding of Science and Technology (COPUST). She was on the International Science Advisory Committee of the China Association for Science and Technology for a new science and technology museum in Beijing which opened in 2009.

Prior to joining the Ontario Science Centre Ms. Lewis served for six years as Executive Director of the Ontario Heritage Foundation and for three years as the Executive Director of the Ontario Human Rights Commission.