Leith Speer Barton is the co-director of Nurtured Child - a resource center in the heart of New York City that promotes respectful, harmonious care for the wellbeing of children, parents and caregivers.

Leith is a RIE® Associate, Certified Parent Coach, Fair Play Facilitator and mother of two. She coaches parents 1-1 virtually worldwide and facilitates RIE® parent-child classes and workshops in-person in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Leith is also the co-founder of MINI LILA - the truly magical wool+silk company making the world comfier and cozier one shirt at a time company.

As a child, Leith dreamed of making the world a more beautiful place.

Leith Speer Barton studied art history and studio art at New York University and worked in the art world briefly before shifting to publishing at Condé Nast where she became a fashion editor at Vogue magazine at age 26.

At Vogue, Leith learned the value of excellence and perseverance but more importantly she learned the power of purpose. Purpose is what later drove Leith to dedicate her expertise to stewarding and championing sustainable and emerging designers as an independent brand consultant for over a decade.

With the birth of her first child, Leith naturally began applying her consultant lens to the issues she faced as a new parent.

She identified the “problems” and looked for solutions. Dubious of trends and "quick fixes", the simplicity and timelessness of Magda Gerber’s Educaring® Approach immediately resonated with her.

After enrolling in local RIE® Parent-Infant Guidance™ classes with RIE® Associate and Pikler® Pedagogue candidate Anna Ruth Myers, MA at Nurtured Child in New York, Leith’s love of the Educaring® Approach blossomed. She took RIE® Foundations: Theory and Observation™ in 2017 in Los Angeles and over the following 5 years was fortunate enough to train with several other RIE® Associates and RIE® Mentors including Elizabeth Memel, Jill Getto Lee, Anita Cooper Ebright, and Melissa Coyné.

Leith became a RIE® Associate in 2022 and now applies her consulting lens full-time to working with parents, caregivers, and professionals.

As the co-director of Nurtured Child alongside her first RIE® Mentor Anna Ruth Myers, Leith facilitates RIE® Parent-Child classes and workshops in Manhattan and Brooklyn.  

Leith believes that supporting and empowering parents to have more respectful, connected relationships with their children will change the world for the better.

What could be more beautiful!

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Previously, Leith was a brand consultant and creative director specializing in the fashion, beauty, and lifestyle industries.  Leith led an independent consultancy from 2012 to 2022 – strategy clients included global creative agencies Johannes Leonardo and Saatchi & Saatchi; branding and concept development clients included ready-to-wear labels Rag & Bone and Sachin & Babi; services included brand development and positioning, concept development, styling, casting, editorial content strategy, creative direction and art direction.