COBLESKILL – Leslie Smith of the Captain Christian Brown Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution recently graduated from the New Horizons Course, which is designed to build confidence and leadership skills in aspiring DAR leaders.  In this self-paced program, Leslie studied the Essentials of a Nonprofit, which included classes on understanding governing documents and the top financial issues that nonprofits face.  She also learned the essentials of chapter development and management, and leadership skills for volunteer organizations.  

Leslie’s capstone project was two-fold, beginning with the digitization of all the chapter’s records dating back to1950.  She also created a virtual cemetery to recognize each of the chapter member’s Revolutionary War patriots.  https://www.findagrave.com/virtual-cemetery/1853077

As the first member of the Captain Christian Brown Chapter, NSDAR to complete all three of the leadership courses offered, Leslie will be honored as a Triple Crown recipient at the New York State Conference.  She currently serves as the chapter registrar and will become the chapter regent in July.  In 2025 Leslie accepted the position of state chairperson for the Flag of the United States Committee.   Said Leslie, “As chapter regent, I plan to utilize the leadership skills and training that I garnered from this program to revitalize our chapter and move it forward as an integral part of our community, pursuing the DAR missions of Historic Preservation, Education and Patriotism.”