By Kyle Coppola
Commissioner Chair Leslie Campione Leads With Integrity and Service
For more than three decades, Lake County Chairwoman Leslie Campione has been a leading voice in government, combining her background in law, passion for community service and commitment to preserving the area’s quality of life.
Born in Orlando, Leslie moved to Lake County with her family in 1971 and graduated from Eustis High School in 1982. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree with academic honors from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1986, and went on to graduate with honors from the University of Florida College of Law in 1989, where she was a member of the Moot Court Team.
After beginning her legal career in Atlanta, Leslie returned to Lake County in 1991. Two years later, she opened her own law practice, focusing on local government, environmental, real property, business and land use law. Over the years, she has served as City Attorney for the Town of Lady Lake, the Town of Montverde and the City of Umatilla.
Now serving her fourth term as Lake County Commissioner, currently positioned as chairwoman, and representing District Four, Leslie is recognized for her balanced approach to growth and conservation. A strong advocate of economic development and free-market principles, she has emphasized the importance of small business ownership, job creation, and career technical education. She played a key role in securing funding for Lake Technical College’s Center for Advanced Manufacturing, a major step toward expanding workforce training opportunities in the region.
Leslie also spearheaded the creation of Keep Lake Beautiful, an affiliate of the national Keep America Beautiful program, to promote environmental stewardship and community pride. Her leadership helped establish bear-proof trash receptacles in bear-prone areas and transformed the Lake County Animal Shelter into a nationally recognized no-kill facility, achieving a 95 percent positive outcome rate for animals.
Beyond policy, she has championed social justice causes. She was a leading advocate for the posthumous pardoning of the Groveland Four — four Black men wrongfully accused in 1949 — and helped bring a permanent monument honoring their legacy to the steps of the Lake County Historic Courthouse in 2020.
Throughout her career, Leslie has also been deeply involved in civic and youth organizations. Her community service includes roles as a Junior Achievement teacher, YMCA coach, former president of the Eustis Service League, and volunteer instructor with the Justice Teaching program.
She has served on multiple local boards, including the Arts & Cultural Alliance, Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, Extension Services Advisory Board, Lake-Sumter Metropolitan Planning Organization, Wekiva River Basin Commission, Wekiva River System Advisory Management Committee, and Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento Community Redevelopment Advisory Committee.
Source: Lakecountyfl.gov
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
