Our Chief Ideas And
Inspiration Officer
Championing African
Creativity and Culture
About Lee
Leslie ‘Lee’ Kasumba is driven by vision,
conviction, and passion. Ugandan by heritage
and Pan-African at heart, her interest in the
continent’s diverse cultures and sounds was
nurtured in childhood and has since grown into a
passionate lifelong pursuit. Lee’s notable
experience as an executive producer, African
creative industry strategist, keynote speaker,
moderator, and voiceover artist sets her apart
among the continent’s multi-hyphenates.
Majoring in media, music, and popular culture
across Africa, she has blazed dynamic trails for a
generation of African musicians and creatives,
helping elevate their art to global platforms.
Lee’s career began at 19 as a radio DJ on YFM in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she was raised. A firm believer in the power of music to connect people, she shared her love for South African hip-hop with her audience and became one of the most visible catalysts of the genre’s rise in the country. Her work at YFM evolved from hosting and producing its acclaimed Harambe show to becoming the youngest and only female editor of its award-winning youth magazine, Y-Mag. Her contribution as a game changer in South African hip-hop was recognised with an induction into the Hennessy Wall of Fame at Museum Africa. Lee’s other radio credentials include being a regular contributor on World Have Your Say by the BBC World Service and Africa correspondent for Radio 702, Johannesburg’s number one talk radio station, where she was noted for interviews on current affairs. More recently, she lent her radio experience to develop, produce, and remotely train hosts of Zambia’s SKY Girls Zed radio show under the SKY Girls project, an anti-smoking community for teenage African girls initiated by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Lee’s career began at 19 as a radio DJ on YFM in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she was raised. A firm believer in the power of music to connect people, she shared her love for South African hip-hop with her audience and became one of the most visible catalysts of the genre’s rise in the country. Her work at YFM evolved from hosting and producing its acclaimed Harambe show to becoming the youngest and only female editor of its award-winning youth magazine, Y-Mag. Her contribution as a game changer in South African hip-hop was recognised with an induction into the Hennessy Wall of Fame at Museum Africa. Lee’s other radio credentials include being a regular contributor on World Have Your Say by the BBC World Service and Africa correspondent for Radio 702, Johannesburg’s number one talk radio station, where she was noted for interviews on current affairs. More recently, she lent her radio experience to develop, produce, and remotely train hosts of Zambia’s SKY Girls Zed radio show under the SKY Girls project, an anti-smoking community for teenage African girls initiated by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
In the world of television, Lee is well-known for her work with Multichoice Africa, Africa’s largest broadcaster. She began as the host of Emcee Africa on Channel O Africa, the continent’s pioneer music channel. As the first Pan-African hip-hop show, Lee introduced viewers to raw talent from eight African countries. She became head of Channel O Africa (East, West, and Central Africa), headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, and was the executive producer of the Channel O Africa Music Video Awards. Her production portfolio includes A&R, creative lead for Africa Rising, Multichoice Africa’s CSR project, and a founding producer of Africa Magic’s Viewers’ Choice Awards. Lee was also responsible for curating NBA Africa’s first official event at the All-Star Weekend in New Orleans, setting a new standard for African representation in global sports culture. As a member of the Big Brother Africa reality show executive production team, Lee focused on musical performances for its Sunday show, arguably African TV’s biggest night during its run. With a keen sense of entertainment appeal, she identified a host of musicians to represent their local markets. Lee introduced them to a broader African audience, leading several of them to superstardom on the continent and her recognition as one of the foundational pillars of today’s global explosion of African music.
Obi Asika, Director General/CEO of the National Council for Arts and Culture, described Leslie as “one of the people instrumental in taking Nigerian music globally,” acknowledging her role in elevating African music onto the world stage.
Lee’s multi-faceted media experience includes hosting the Africa State of Mind podcast, which featured frank conversations with outstanding individuals from Africa and beyond on their work to represent the continent positively. Her interviews featured politicians like Phumzile Mlambo Ngcuka, former executive director of UN Women and first female deputy president of South Africa; international journalists, including Nima Elbagir, CNN International’s award-winning senior correspondent; artists like Sho Madjozi and Black Coffee; business leaders such as Mimi Kalinda, Group CEO of Africa Group Communications and Tewolde GebreMariam, former Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines; and distinguished individuals such as Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize laureate. As host of Standard Bank’s Africa Connected show, Lee explored business and culture across five African countries, namely Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, and Nigeria, sharing engaging stories of African solutions for African problems through the innovation and resilience of women in business and youth in technology, among others.
In 2022, Leslie was featured as a panelist at the Attorney General Alliance (AGA) Africa Annual Conference in Accra, where she shared a stage with Amadou Fall, President of Basketball Africa, alongside other key stakeholders. Her insights during the conference further
solidified her leadership in the creative industry.
Leslie’s influence continues to expand, as evidenced by her role at MIP Africa, Fame Week Africa in Cape Town, where she was featured as a special guest at the Women in Media Breakfast. This was an especially significant honor, as she followed in the footsteps of Mo Abudu, CEO of EbonyLife, who was the previous year’s guest. MIP Africa also included high-profile sessions, such as one featuring Steve Harvey. /span>
Lee has also moderated and spoken at high-level events such as 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. Other speaking engagements include EPR Global’s 2023 Emergence Conference; the 4th and 5th editions of the Africa Women Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF); Fashion Connect Africa Model Bootcamp; and “Cold Table Convos” at the Castle Lite Unlocks hip-hop festival featuring Sway Calloway and Meek Mill. Lee also executive produced and co-hosted Castle Lite’s “Hip Hop HerStory” concert featuring Angela Yee of The Breakfast Club and rappers Roxanne Shante, Young MA, Nadia Nakai, Rouge, and Moozlie. She hosted 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, at which former first lady of South Africa, Graça Machel, was present as the guest of honour. She lent her hip-hop and pop culture credentials to judge the 2023 BET Hip Hop Awards (Best International Flow category). She was also a nominee and judging committee member of the 52nd, 53rd, and 54th NAACP Image Awards.
Lee’s passion for telling Africa’s stories culminated in She Speaks Africa, a unique hub of bespoke projects designed to showcase Africa’s creative and cultural industry. Through She Speaks Africa and its original productions like The Africa Whisperer — nominated for the 2022 International Women’s Podcast Awards and the 2023 Association of African Podcasters and Voice Artists (APVA) Awards — Lee tells beautifully nuanced stories that celebrate Africa’s people, cultures, and rightful place in the world. It has featured illustrious Africans such as Dr. Wendy Okolo, NASA research engineer and the first Black woman to earn a doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas; Burundian food entrepreneur Chef Coco Reinarhz; Jocelyne Muhutu-Remy, managing director of Spotify Sub-Saharan Africa; creative entrepreneur Mr Eazi; and Vania Leles, creator of fine jewellery brand Vanleles Diamonds. In 2023, The Africa Whisperer was selected by Spotify Africa to host a live session of Greasy Tunes, its popular Gen-Z-focused podcast. The podcast was also an official partner of the 2023 Hexa Media Humanitarians of Africa Awards, which celebrated African NGOs.
Lee was a facilitator for the Spurt MasterClass Bootcamp on March 4th, 2024, at the ALX Hub, where she led a session titled “Leveraging Storytelling to Build Your Brand.” She was also invited to speak in an online conversation about creativity and cultural literacy, “Creativity and Cultural Literacy: The Power of Uganda’s Female Creatives,” hosted by the Digital Creative Initiative on March 8th, 2024. Additionally, she is currently a judge for the Hexamedia Humanitarians of Africa (HOA) Awards in the relevant category.
Lee is also one of the founding members of WeDoArtForGood, an initiative dedicated to driving environmental sustainability through art. We Do Art For Good leverages creative fundraising and commissions custom artworks to fund environmental projects in Ghana and throughout the African continent.
Additionally, Lee was awarded the 2023 Society of Voice
Arts and Sciences (SOVAS)TM Outstanding Spoken Word or Storytelling — Best African Voiceover Award in recognition of her work as a voice actor. Other recipients that year included EGOT Viola White, musician Bono, and actress Meryl Streep. She is also one of the Founding Members of Africa Voice Over Day, which was coined on April 30th, 2024.
She also participated in a conversation with The Dialouger on the theme “Women Arisen.” The topic for the discussion was “Leading in the Creative Industry in Africa.”
She Speaks Africa is dedicated to “harnessing the power of Africa’s creative and cultural industries to shape Africa’s narrative globally,” a mission that Leslie is passionate about. The company’s portfolio includes work for Canal Plus Advertising, managing clients including Nestle CWA; NBCUniversal (E! Entertainment); L’Oréal Paris; Wild Africa Fund; African Fashion International AFI (including digital content and videography for the AFI fashion show at AFCON 2023); Diasporan African Forum; Platoon (Apple Music); Wife and Hubby (PTY) Ltd; Kunda Kids; The Signet Hour Show; 365 Media for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Sky Girls Zed project).
We are always happy to talk!
South Africa
Ghana
Nigeria
And The World