ABOUT LEAH

Leah Halton-Pope has dedicated her career to serving the people of Buffalo and Western New York. Raised in a working-class family right here in Western New York, Leah learned early that leadership begins with listening, service, and a commitment to improving the lives of others.

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Today, Leah serves as Majority Leader of the Buffalo Common Council and Council Member representing the Ellicott District, where she has built a reputation as a thoughtful leader, consensus builder, and relentless advocate for working families and neighborhoods. Her leadership on the Council has focused on fiscal responsibility, neighborhood revitalization, affordable housing, economic development, public safety, transparency, and building a stronger, more responsive city government.

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Before joining the Common Council, Leah spent more than a decade serving alongside New York State Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes. During that time, she helped develop, negotiate, and advance legislation that continues to improve lives across New York State. Her work included helping write and negotiate New York’s Community Schools Act, developing the Teacher Diversity Pipeline, negotiating the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act, and advancing long-term property tax protections for senior homeowners in Buffalo’s Fruit Belt, a model that has since expanded to seven Buffalo neighborhoods.

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Leah's commitment to public service extends beyond government. She previously served as Director of Government & Community Relations for Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, working to strengthen relationships between one of the region's most important healthcare institutions and the communities it serves. Earlier in her career, Leah served as Advocacy and Special Projects Coordinator for the Girl Scouts of Western New York, where she worked to advance the needs of young women and girls while helping empower the next generation of female leaders.

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Her involvement in public service and politics began at the grassroots level. In 2012, Leah served as a Buffalo Field Organizer for Obama for America during President Barack Obama's re-election campaign, an experience that strengthened her belief in the power of organizing, civic participation, and people working together to create change.

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Leah's approach to leadership was shaped by her parents, Antoinette Halton-Singleton and the late Bishop Nathan Halton of Greater Faith Bible Tabernacle Church on Edison Street. Their example of faith, service, and commitment to community helped form the values that continue to guide her today. Leah also continues her community service as 2nd Vice President of the Buffalo NAACP and as a Worship Leader at True Bethel Baptist Church on East Ferry Street.

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Whether working in City Hall, the State Capitol, healthcare, community advocacy, or her church, the principle behind Leah's work has remained the same: government and public service should create opportunity, strengthen communities, and improve people's lives.