[1] Kleist was born on 31 March 1958 to a Danish telegraphist and a Greenlandic mother in Qullissat on Disko Island, and was raised by his aunt and uncle.

[citation needed] Kleist graduated from Roskilde University in 1983 with a master's degree in social work (socionom).

[citation needed] In 1996, Kleist was appointed the Director of the Foreign Office of the Greenland Home Rule Government (Direktør for hjemmestyrets udenrigskontor).

IA will be the first party to govern the autonomous Danish territory under an expanded home rule agreement known as "self-rule" (selvstyre).

[6][7] In late August 2009 Kleist met with Admiral Tim Sloth Jørgensen and General Walter Natynczyk, the chiefs of defense staff for Denmark and Canada, respectively.