Leslie Marbury 2022 speaker

Chief Operating Officer

Prosper Africa

Biography

Leslie Marbury serves as the Acting Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. government’s Prosper Africa initiative. In this role, she advances the U.S. government’s efforts to substantially increase two-way trade and investment between the United States and African countries. She coordinates across 17 participating U.S. departments and agencies to facilitate transactions, strengthen business climates, and enhance the U.S. government’s trade and investment support services and resources.

Previously, Leslie Marbury served as the Mission Director for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Rwanda and Burundi, where she oversaw programs in economic growth, health, democracy, education, and humanitarian assistance, worked with the Government of Rwanda and other partners to accelerate Rwanda’s transition to a middle-income country,, and led the response to COVID-19. Her previous posts include Honduras, Bolivia, South Africa, and Burma.

Throughout her time with the U.S. government, Leslie Marbury has worked with the private sector, civil society, and governments to improve economic governance, private sector investment, trade, the financial sector, environmental policy, agricultural development, and food security. Leslie Marbury is a career member of the USAID Senior Foreign Service. She gained her formative experience as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana and received her Masters degree in Environmental Economics and Policy from the University of Georgia.