Leslie Ann Ashburner
Expertise: Capacity development in Higher Education, low-carbon development in Africa.
Leslie is currently leading a UK Aid-funded, 5-year programme to build postgraduate capacity for the clean energy access sector in Africa. The Transforming Energy Access – Learning Partnership supports African universities in designing and implementing multidisciplinary curricula responsive to the needs of the energy access sector, linking entrepreneurial, management, and community engagement skills with hard skills related to clean energy.
Leslie has a Master’s degree in Climate Change and Sustainable Development from the University of Cape Town (UCT). Since 2015, she has worked as a project manager at UCT, focusing on developing African higher education capacity for climate change responses. Previous projects include coordinating the development of a Southern African Master’s curriculum in climate change and sustainable development, as well as delivering the Adaptation Futures 2018 conference in Cape Town.