Kelly Leonard

Kelly Leonard (President & CEO, Kelly Leonard Productions/Creative Advisor, The Second City) has worked at The Second City for nearly three decades in various creative and leadership positions. He has produced shows with such notable talent as Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers, Keegan Michael Key and Steve Carell. He has created shows with Lyric Opera Chicago, The Kennedy Center, Hubbard Street Dance, La Jolla Playhouse and The Actors Theatre in Louisville. He has made deals and led collaborations with Norwegian Cruise Line, Yoshimoto Kogyo of Japan, The Chicago Tribune and Universal Studios. His book, Yes, And: Lessons From The Second City, was published by HarperCollins in 2015 to critical acclaim. Writing in Vanity Fair, author Michael Lewis wrote, “Yes, And is an excellent guide to the lessons that have bubbled up in Second City’s improv workshops.” Mr. Leonard speaks frequently on the power of improvisation to transform business and personal life, presenting at The Aspen Ideas Festival, The Stanford Graduate School of Business, The Wharton School of Business, TEDxBroadway 2016 and TEDxZumbroRiver in Rochester, MN. He hosts the podcast, “Getting to Yes, And” which can be heard at http://wgnplus.com/category/second-city-works/.