Staff Directory
Jackson III, Leon
Leon Jackson III
- Title:
- Senior Associate AD/Assistant Vice Chancellor for Advancement
- Email:
- Phone:
- 303-492-2200
Leon Jackson III was named Senior Associate Athletic Director and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Advancement at the University of Colorado in January of 2022.
In his dual role, Jackson serves on both the Colorado Athletics executive team and CU Boulder’s advancement leadership team. His responsibilities include oversight of all areas of CU Boulder’s athletic advancement efforts, including annual fund solicitation strategy, budgeting, goal setting, letterwinners association (Alumni C Club), marketing, premium seat sales, principal and major gift donor strategy, signature events, and stewardship through the Buff Club. In addition, he serves as sport administrator for the men's basketball program.
Under Jackson’s leadership, the Buff Club has quickly reached unprecedented heights. Aided by a revamped annual fund, the introduction of a new leadership giving initiative the Flatirons Society, and the restructuring of his unit’s organizational makeup, over $106 million in cash and pledges has been raised since 2022. Moreover, his team has set 4 of the top 7 fundraising totals in the 45+ year history of the Buff Club (including a record-setting $28 million given in 2023 and $35+ million given in 2025).
Jackson comes to CU Boulder from the University of Pittsburgh. He joined the Pittsburgh staff in November of 2019 as the Panthers’ associate athletics director for major gifts. He was charged with identifying, cultivating, and securing major gift commitments for Pitt Athletics’ $300 million Victory Heights Capital Campaign and its 750 student-athletes, spirit squads, and marching band. In addition, he was the development liaison for the women’s gymnastics, women’s basketball, and women’s lacrosse programs.
Prior to his time at Pitt, Jackson spent the previous four years (2015-19) at Kansas State University. As a member of the Wildcat staff, he was the director of annual giving for K-State’s Ahearn Fund, overseeing the department’s $18.3 million annual giving unit. He directed all premium seat sale efforts (to 97 percent capacity), and managed a major gift portfolio of 90 donors in support of a near record-setting $44.4 million in giving toward KSU athletics and in support of its 450 student-athletes. For his first three years in Manhattan, he was a member on K-State’s expanded senior athletic staff as the director of ticket services. In that role, Jackson led a record-setting ticketing unit and was the direct contact for football and men’s basketball.
CU Boulder places Jackson and his family in familiar and extensive Rocky Mountain regional roots; he lettered four years as a quarterback and punter (2004-07) at Utah State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in political science in 2007. After two years of playing professionally in Europe, he returned to his alma mater where he joined the football staff in 2010, earned his Master of Education in 2012 and then held several different positions in the Aggies’ athletic department before moving on to Kansas State in 2015.
Jackson enjoyed a solid playing career at Utah State. As a senior in 2007, he completed 65.4 percent of his passes which set a then school single-season record; he threw for 1,576 yards and nine touchdowns with only four interceptions, while rushing for 338 net yards on 142 carries and 6 touchdowns. That year, he earned second-team All-Western Athletic Conference honors as a punter, averaging 41.3 yards per punt with 16 inside-the-20.
Following his collegiate career, Jackson completed a five-month internship as a legislative intern on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. He then spent two seasons playing professional football overseas in France and Austria in the European Football League.
After he retired from football, he returned to the United States and Logan, Utah at his alma mater, where he first served as an offensive administrative assistant for Utah State’s football team in 2010, and then as an external operations graduate assistant for the 2011-12 academic and athletic year. His first full time job came the next year, when he was promoted to director of events/internal operations for the athletic department in July 2012. The following June, he transitioned into ticketing as the assistant director of ticketing and customer service, and after one year in that role, he was quickly elevated to the department’s senior staff as the director in that same area, overseeing the entire ticket office staff of 17 when the Aggies set a then-record of 10,700 season tickets.
A native of Los Angeles, he was an all-CIF performer at Long Beach Poly High School, which was ranked second in the nation his senior year when he was his league’s Most Valuable Player. He is married to the former Nicki Felley, a four-year letterwinner on Utah State’s gymnastics team and the couple has three children, Josiah, Kyndal, and Isaac.
In his dual role, Jackson serves on both the Colorado Athletics executive team and CU Boulder’s advancement leadership team. His responsibilities include oversight of all areas of CU Boulder’s athletic advancement efforts, including annual fund solicitation strategy, budgeting, goal setting, letterwinners association (Alumni C Club), marketing, premium seat sales, principal and major gift donor strategy, signature events, and stewardship through the Buff Club. In addition, he serves as sport administrator for the men's basketball program.
Under Jackson’s leadership, the Buff Club has quickly reached unprecedented heights. Aided by a revamped annual fund, the introduction of a new leadership giving initiative the Flatirons Society, and the restructuring of his unit’s organizational makeup, over $106 million in cash and pledges has been raised since 2022. Moreover, his team has set 4 of the top 7 fundraising totals in the 45+ year history of the Buff Club (including a record-setting $28 million given in 2023 and $35+ million given in 2025).
Jackson comes to CU Boulder from the University of Pittsburgh. He joined the Pittsburgh staff in November of 2019 as the Panthers’ associate athletics director for major gifts. He was charged with identifying, cultivating, and securing major gift commitments for Pitt Athletics’ $300 million Victory Heights Capital Campaign and its 750 student-athletes, spirit squads, and marching band. In addition, he was the development liaison for the women’s gymnastics, women’s basketball, and women’s lacrosse programs.
Prior to his time at Pitt, Jackson spent the previous four years (2015-19) at Kansas State University. As a member of the Wildcat staff, he was the director of annual giving for K-State’s Ahearn Fund, overseeing the department’s $18.3 million annual giving unit. He directed all premium seat sale efforts (to 97 percent capacity), and managed a major gift portfolio of 90 donors in support of a near record-setting $44.4 million in giving toward KSU athletics and in support of its 450 student-athletes. For his first three years in Manhattan, he was a member on K-State’s expanded senior athletic staff as the director of ticket services. In that role, Jackson led a record-setting ticketing unit and was the direct contact for football and men’s basketball.
CU Boulder places Jackson and his family in familiar and extensive Rocky Mountain regional roots; he lettered four years as a quarterback and punter (2004-07) at Utah State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in political science in 2007. After two years of playing professionally in Europe, he returned to his alma mater where he joined the football staff in 2010, earned his Master of Education in 2012 and then held several different positions in the Aggies’ athletic department before moving on to Kansas State in 2015.
Jackson enjoyed a solid playing career at Utah State. As a senior in 2007, he completed 65.4 percent of his passes which set a then school single-season record; he threw for 1,576 yards and nine touchdowns with only four interceptions, while rushing for 338 net yards on 142 carries and 6 touchdowns. That year, he earned second-team All-Western Athletic Conference honors as a punter, averaging 41.3 yards per punt with 16 inside-the-20.
Following his collegiate career, Jackson completed a five-month internship as a legislative intern on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. He then spent two seasons playing professional football overseas in France and Austria in the European Football League.
After he retired from football, he returned to the United States and Logan, Utah at his alma mater, where he first served as an offensive administrative assistant for Utah State’s football team in 2010, and then as an external operations graduate assistant for the 2011-12 academic and athletic year. His first full time job came the next year, when he was promoted to director of events/internal operations for the athletic department in July 2012. The following June, he transitioned into ticketing as the assistant director of ticketing and customer service, and after one year in that role, he was quickly elevated to the department’s senior staff as the director in that same area, overseeing the entire ticket office staff of 17 when the Aggies set a then-record of 10,700 season tickets.
A native of Los Angeles, he was an all-CIF performer at Long Beach Poly High School, which was ranked second in the nation his senior year when he was his league’s Most Valuable Player. He is married to the former Nicki Felley, a four-year letterwinner on Utah State’s gymnastics team and the couple has three children, Josiah, Kyndal, and Isaac.
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