Leslie Loble is Co-Chair of the Council on Early Childhood Development and Fellow at the Centre for Policy Development.
Leslie Loble served as a Deputy Secretary in the NSW Department of Education for 20 years, where she led strategy, reform and innovative delivery in Australia’s largest and most diverse education sector, working across schooling, early childhood and tertiary education sectors. She also served as long-time chair of the national Schools Policy Group, a key part of the education Ministerial Council architecture. Leslie has helped shape the national school funding reforms (Gonski), national teaching quality standards, national literacy and numeracy assessment, as well as key Australian early childhood and VET innovations. In NSW, she led the work to guarantee two years of preschool, established the Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation and initiated Education for a Changing World to address the future of work. Leslie was awarded Australian Financial Review/Westpac Top 100 Women of Influence in 2013 for her impact on Australian public affairs; and was named one of Australia’s top 50 school education innovators in 2019.
Prior to coming to Australia, Ms Loble served in President Bill Clinton’s Administration for five years as part of the leadership team at the U.S. Department of Labor, including as Chief of Staff to Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich, acting Assistant Secretary for Policy and Counsellor to the Secretary.
Leslie was awarded Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2022, named the Australian Financial Review/Westpac Top 100 Women of Influence in 2013 and one of Australia’s top 50 school education innovators in 2019.