To say that Leonard Shostak has a gift for helping organizations improve their businesses processes would be putting it mildly. A local pizzeria owner witnessed him in action at age 15 and hired him on the spot. By 16, he was managing the pizzeria, and was given a small percentage of the business, which he then helped grow from one to multiple locations. And by 23, he’d sold his now-larger stake. Ten years later, the owners asked for his advice in accurately determining the value of the business for a proposed sale.

Upon graduating from New York City’s Queens College in 1992 with a BA in Computer Science, Leonard founded L&D Computer Consulting Corp., a business technology firm which he led until he sold it in 2007. He co-founded Box of Rain, which consults with diverse clients on every facet of business development and management.

As a recognized expert on the business use of technology, Leonard has been interviewed and quoted by Inc. Magazine, Newsday, the BBC News, and several industry-specific publications; and has served as an expert witness in New York State courts. He has also led courses, seminars, and team-building exercises for Queens College, the New School, the American Management Association, the Independent Computer Consultants Association, and New York University. Leonard is an active board member of his Toastmasters chapter and regularly attends Sandler Sales Training workshops.

The founder of A Networking Event Made in Heaven, a networking and fundraising venture, and Brooklyn Business Base, a local business networking group, Leonard organizes, attends, and emcees business and community events. He has worked on events for organizations such as the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Rex Foundation, the Spain-US Chamber of Commerce, American Cancer Society Brooklyn Chapter, and school and children’s services agencies.

In addition to his business activities, Leonard is an Eagle Scout active in the Greater New York City Boy Scout Council, a certified US Soccer referee, and an avid outdoorsman who enjoys year-round camping. A jam band fan and all-around music lover, he founded Kids Play Tunes, a live music experience program for public school children, and sponsors the Celebrate Brooklyn concert series in Prospect Park. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two sons.

Clients have included mom-and-pop shops, start-ups, professional service firms, non-profits, and global corporations from industries such as:

Highlights include:

• Completed several mission-critical projects for Merrill Lynch, including: setting up temporary facilities and technology infrastructure with simulated financial market used to train thousands of currency traders over several years.

• Completed several mission-critical projects for Citibank, including: setting up temporary private IT networks to enable the time-sensitive handling of fluctuations in the currency market.

• Plotted connectivity for Nouvelle Industries, a leading sock manufacturer, and arranged licenses with many popular brands such as Spalding and Wrangler.

• Maximized buying power for Mays Department Stores / Lord & Taylor by devising remote access solutions that enabled connectivity between facilities.

• Hired repeatedly by Scholastic, including to find creative solutions for connectivity during expansion, such as integrating the mainframe with desktop computers.

• Helped Better Indeed invent Family Matters board game and, in under a year, took it from inception to distribution into major toy and big box retailers.

• Established offices, policies, and procedures and provided business and technology advice to Sam Carson Associates, which represented major food-related products to big box stores; and, as industry approached obsolescence, helped relocate them from NYC to Florida and wind down.

• Provided business development and technology integration advice to Eventive Marketing, an experiential marketing firm, from inception through its sale to a major advertising group for a sizeable profit.

• Set up communications platform for Playbill and implemented internet policies and procedures company-wide.

• Helped numerous property management companies – from small operations to ones with hundreds of properties across the country – move from manual to computerized systems for rent collection, high-tech surveillance, and other tasks.

• From before inception through successful operations, consulted with KV&F Metal Products, which sells a vast majority of its consumer goods products through Fortunoff, Bed Bath & Beyond, and other upscale retailers.

• Has been providing broad scope of IT and business consulting services to Caithness, a power management company, for over 16 years.

• Automated case management for numerous small and mid-sized law firms before, during, and after the Internet; as well as establishing secure remote access – including to city’s systems.

• Bridged communication gap between several design and architectural firms, construction companies, and related entities, including government officials and inspectors, by implementing new technologies that enabled remote data capture and visualization; this improved relationships, overall efficiency, and outcomes for multiple parties.

• For over 10 years, has been providing business consulting and managed technology for Centre Studio Architecture & Design of New York.

• Provided office automation and migration to practice management software for Manhattan Endodontic Group, a top oral surgery practice in midtown.

• Has consulted with J&S Plumbing Supplies, a small operation, for over 10 years, including computerizing inventory, which enabled them to remain competitive by doing business with large construction companies.

• Formed computer and communications systems at inception of Terra-Gen Power, a growing renewable energy company, and continues to consult on business development and technology.

• Used technology and surveillance to streamline and stabilize Renaissance, a credit card processor, which was experiencing problems with office environment and systems.

• Computerized member benefits program for New York State Court Clerks Association and established its access to the city’s system.

• Performed every single job at many music festivals and large events, including building wireless networks, as well as physical and high-tech ticketing and control systems.