Lele holds a BSc Honours from Medunsa and a Masters in Business Leadership from UNISA. She started work in the South African Police Services, in a division then known as the Institute of Behavioural Science. Since then she has held various middle and senior level HR and HRD positions in Finance and Retail sectors, the last being as Head of HR at Allan Gray. Lele founded mPower People Solutions, a strategic human resources and organisational development company.