Leslie Carpenter is the Legislative Advocacy Manager for the Treatment Advocacy Center, a co-founder of Iowa Mental Health Advocacy, and a lobbyist in the Iowa Legislature.

She is a retired physical therapist who now works to improve the mental illness treatment system. She serves on the NAMI Iowa Board of Directors and teaches 3 of the NAMI Signature Programs, with her most recent emphasis on NAMI Provider Training. She provides advocacy presentations to a wide variety of audiences to help people to understand the causes of the mental health crisis, to humanize it and to share practical solutions.

Leslie successfully led an effort in Johnson County to create Iowa’s first AOT (Assisted Outpatient Treatment) Program in conjunction with Iowa’s first Civil Mental Health Court. She also serves on multiple advisory boards and committees as a family member with lived experience, including the National AOT Advisory Committee, to help improve the treatment of people with serious brain illnesses.
Leslie and her husband, Scott, have 2 adult children, one of whom lives with a severe Schizoaffective Disorder. Leslie and Scott received the Isabel Turner Award from the Iowa City Human Rights Commission in 2020 for their advocacy work, and Leslie also received a Corridor Business Journal “Woman of Influence” award in 2024. Leslie has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Physical Therapy from Russell Sage College.