Leslie ‘Lee’ Kasumba is a conversationalist, creative industry specialist, and executive strategist on her favourite subject: Africa. Ugandan by blood, South African by nurture, and Pan-African at heart, she has a deeply rooted love for the continent’s rich talent and culture with an extensive career that celebrates both. Her accomplishments in African music, media, and popular culture showcase her passion and consistency for achieving excellence and elevating others with her. Lee founded She Speaks Africa, a creative hub dedicated to stimulating dynamic dialogues on Africa, developing investment strategies to explore the continent’s vast potential, and executing impact-driven arts and entertainment projects. She believes in the power of Africa’s cultural and creative industry to transform the destinies of its youth and reshape the African narrative.

Lee’s love for music led to working as a radio DJ on Johannesburg’s YFM right after high school and throughout her days as a dramatic arts student at Wits University. She grew into the roles of host and producer of the station’s popular Harambe show and became the youngest and only female editor of its award-winning hip-hop magazine, Y-Mag. Her contribution to promoting South African hip-hop and cementing the genre’s place on the global music scene is honoured on the Hennessy Wall of Fame at Museum Africa, Johannesburg.

Beyond radio, Lee extended her firm grasp of African media to create new opportunities in television, particularly within the Multichoice Africa universe. Her portfolio includes being the head of Channel O Africa (East, West, and Central Africa); executive producer of the Channel O Africa Music Video Awards; executive producer of the Big Brother Africa reality show; A&R and creative lead of the Africa Rising Project; and one of the founding producers, Africa Magic’s Viewers’ Choice Awards. With her flair for identifying talent, a knack for forecasting trends, and the courage to pursue uncharted territory, Lee’s productions are associated with the rise of several musicians from local celebrities to prominence across Africa and beyond. She has leveraged her knowledge of African culture and creativity in consulting roles for Roc Nation, Forbes Africa, Standard Bank Africa, Red Bull Music Academy (Australia and Cape Town), and UN-Habitat’s Messengers of Truth Project. She has also served as a judge for the 52nd, 53rd, and 54th NAACP Image Awards, Uganda Music Awards, Kili Music Awards, AFRIMMA Awards, and most recently, the 2023 BET Hip Hop Awards.

As host of the Africa State of Mind podcast, Lee led insightful conversations with illustrious individuals from and beyond Africa on their work to positively represent the continent. Her eclectic guest list included Dr. Wendy Okolo, the first Black woman to earn a doctorate in aerospace engineering and NASA research engineer; Amadou Gallo Fall, president of the Basketball Africa League and former vice president and managing director, NBA Africa; Isha Johansen, former president of the Sierra Leone Football Association; Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, former executive director of UN Women and first female deputy president of South Africa; Moky Makura, former chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Acha Leke, senior partner of McKinsey & Company and chairman of McKinsey Africa; and internationally recognised singer, Yvonne Chaka Chaka.

Lee has distinguished herself as a speaker and moderator, having worked with prominent agencies such as the Attorney General Alliance Africa (AGA-Africa); UN Women and Girls Summit Africa on maternal health; UNESCO’s COVID-19 African media advisory panel; the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD); and the Africa Women Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF). More recently, she was a panelist at the 2023 Global Empowerment and Cultural (GEC) Summit on Hip Hop, where she shared her views on media and hip-hop from the South African hip-hop perspective. Her compèring credentials include hosting the “‘Africaness’ for the Africa We Want” cultural evening held by the Centre for African Philanthropy and Social Investment (CAPSI), the Mandela Institute for Development Studies (MINDS), and AUDA-NEPAD, which had Graça Machel, the former first lady of South Africa, as its guest of honour. Lee is also on the board of agri-fintech Tingo Inc., soon to be listed on the NYSE, and a patron of the TADs Fashion Institute.

With She Speaks Africa, Lee brings her rich experience in telling Africa’s stories through arts and culture to bear through bespoke solutions and initiatives, such as The Africa Whisperer, Lee Kasumba podcast, nominated for the 2022 International Women’s Podcast Awards, and the 2023 Association of African Podcasters and Voice Artists (APVA) Awards. Lee was also nominated for the 2022 SOVAS™ Outstanding Commercial (Radio or Streaming) Best African Voiceover Award for her work on The Africa Whisperer, Lee Kasumba, which is an official partner of the 2023 Hexa Media Humanitarians of Africa Awards. She Speaks Africa is dedicated to harnessing the power of Africa’s creative and cultural industries to reimagine the world from an African perspective. The company’s portfolio includes work for Canal Plus Advertising, managing clients including Nestle CWA; NBCUniversal (E! Entertainment); L'Oréal Paris; Wild Africa Fund; The Rockstar Group; Chocolate City Group; Platoon (Apple Music); Wife and Hubby (PTY) Ltd; and 365 Media for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Sky Girls Zed project).