Foi Diretora de Operacões e Presidente do BRDE (Banco Regional de Desenvolvimento do Extremo Sul) e Secretária de Planejamento, Orcamento e Gestão no DF (2014-2018) e no RS (2019-2020), quando também coordenou o Comitê de Dados para o Combate ao COVID19, à frente da estratégia do distanciamento controlado no Estado. Mestre em Ciência Política (1998) e Doutora em Estudos Comparados sobre as Américas (2005) pela Universidade de Brasília. Foi Fulbright/ APSA Congressional Fellow e pesquisadora Visitante da Georgetown University (2003-2004), do Centro de Estudos Brasileiros, Universidade de Oxford (2006); e Oxford-Princeton Global Leaders Post-Doctoral Fellow (2009-2011); Lemann Fellow of Practice na Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford (2022). Recebeu o prêmio ALACIP de melhor tese de doutorado em Ciência Política da América Latina, biênio 2004-2005, e Menção Honrosa do Prêmio Capes de Teses, 2005. Atuou como Vice-Presidente do Conselho de Secretários de Planejamento (CONSEPLAN) e de Administração (CONSAD) em diferentes períodos. É servidora de carreira do Senado Federal desde 1993. Foi pesquisadora colaboradora plena do IPOL/ UnB entre 2008-2013 e, desde fevereiro de 2017, faz parte do quadro docente do Instituto de Direito Publico (IDP) e professora convidada da Fundacão Dom Cabral.
Leany Lemos holds a Masters in Political Science (1998) and a Doctorate in Comparative Studies on the Americas (2005), both granted by the University of Brasilia, Brazil. She was an APSA/Fullbright Concressional Fellow and Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University (2003-2004); Visiting Research Associate at the Centre for Brazilian Studies and St. Antony?s College, University of Oxford (2006); and Oxford-Princeton Global Leaders Post-Doctoral Fellow (2009-2011). For her dissertation on ?Legislative Control in Presidential Democracies: Brazil and United States in Comparative Perspective? she won the ?Best Doctoral Dissertation Prize 2005-2006′, awarded by the Latin American Political Science Association, and Honor Mention at the 2006 Great Prize of Doctoral Dissertation by CAPES, the Brazilian Agency for Higher Education and Research. She was Secretary of Planning, Budget and Management for the Federal District, Brazil from 2015 to 2018 and of the State of Rio Grande do Sul from 2019 to 2020, when also coordinated the Data Committee for the COVID19. As Secretary, she has served as pro bono vice-president in Administration and Planning National Councils. She has served as senior official in the Federal Senate since 1993, was Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Science at the University of Brasilia (2008-2013), has been Public Law Institute (IDP) Faculty since 2017 and oined Fundacão Dom Cabral as guest Professor in 2022. She was Credit Operations Director and CEO of the Bank for Regional Development of the Extreme South - BRDE, which is a subnational development bank in Brazil.