Lesley is an engagement, evaluation and communications independent freelancer, specialising in public and community engagement and knowledge exchange in the higher education, cultural and innovation sectors. She has over 20 years’ experience with expertise, advanced skills and demonstrable success in the crafting and curation or evaluation of: strategies and action plans; organisational culture change; engagement programmes and projects; training and mentoring; workshops and events; research and reviews; funding schemes and communications campaigns.
She is adept at project management, facilitation and building partnerships between stakeholders, organisations and communities. She is very well-networked with connections across the higher education, engaged research and knowledge exchange sectors and with community, museum and cultural organisations.
Lesley has been a member of multiple expert and strategic advisory groups and funding panels for universities, funders; national academies; government and media and arts organisations and is currently appointed as a Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021) Impact Assessor and a Knowledge Exchange Concordat Evaluator.
Prior to becoming full-time freelance, she was the University of Oxford’s Head of Public Engagement with Research; the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Head of Communications & Engagement and a Public Engagement Project Manager at the Wellcome Trust.
She has post-graduate degrees in Social Science Research Methods and Science Communication and a PhD in the sciences.