Please welcome Dominick Perez (Steinhardt '20), the newest member of our team here at the Leslie Entrepreneurial Institute! As our Program Administrator, Dominick supports the day-to-day operations of Leslie eLab, coordinates our accelerator programs, and helps bring our community events and engagement to life. He joins us from the creative agency world, where he worked as a producer and brand experience leader — experience that shaped his love of building meaningful experiences and community. He's also the co-founder of his own creative services agency, DO x IT Productions, focused on photo and video projects. Dominick is no stranger to NYU: he's returning to his alma mater, where he earned his BS in Media, Culture, and Communications with a minor in the Business of Entertainment, Media, and Technology.
What made you want to come back to NYU on the staff side after being a student here? Is there a specific memory or moment from undergrad that connects to what you're doing now?
As a student and someone who was new to New York City at the time, NYU presented me with countless opportunities and new memories. I found such a strong community here, so I’ve always been open to returning in a professional setting and contributing to that experience for others. The Leslie eLab was the perfect place for this; we are truly fostering connections and launching teams into their next phase of success. I was excited by the team here because everyone clearly shared my passion for creating those experiences and building something from the ground up.
One of the things that drew me to the Institute in particular was the fact that I’d get to support other founders. In 2025, I co-founded my own creative agency DO x IT Productions. We specialize in conceptual videography and photography, often centered around music, dance, and events. While I didn’t co-found a startup exactly, I still have a lot of the same qualities and skills that it takes to do so, and I’m excited to share any knowledge I can.
What's a project from your agency or producer days that you're especially proud of, and why?
When I was an Assistant Producer at Makeout, we worked with KFC to launch their new saucy chicken nuggets through three food truck activations. Over one summer, we popped up in NYC, Austin, and Ann Arbor, and I managed our vendors, onsite PAs/BAs, food and food truck operations, and personally oversaw the creation of a custom sauce dispenser. This project was particularly fun because I love food and have always thought it’d be fun to own a food truck one day. During parts of the activation, I got to actually be on the truck and operate the sauce dispenser, which was pretty cool.
What are you most excited to build, support, or improve in your first few months?
I’m most excited to support the Leslie Founders and Startup Accelerator Program. When you’re starting your own venture and looking for investors, it’s all about the people behind those pitches — people tend to sell more than the product. So, I’m excited to meet all these amazing founders and build a community at the Institute that helps them find success and the resources they need. Not only that, but creating unique and tailored experiences for people is what I love to do. I love curating and building events from the ground up, so I look forward to getting involved in all the programming here. I also really like organizing and building systems, so while we’re creating external experiences, it’ll be fun to also make things more efficient and run more smoothly internally.
Who is Dominick outside of work?
While I come from the world of events and operations, I also have a very creative side to me. I dance, love film/TV and music, and am a photographer and director. I take dance classes all the time after work and am on a street styles dance team called The Neighbors. We’re currently working on a Fall and Spring competition set and a longer, theater-length show for May 2027 that will combine dance, physical art, projections, and technology.
Before I started my current role here, I was freelancing and doing gig work in events and photo/video productions though DO x IT. I really enjoyed getting to bring other people's visions to life and work on some of my own projects on the way. I just directed my first dance short film this past August! It’s currently in post-production, and I’m super excited to share it soon.
