Nellie Lester has a master's degree in Urban and Rural planning from Dalhousie University (Canada) with 26 years of professional experience. She specializes in policy development and strategic planning with significant experience in government initiatives directed at spatial transformation including housing development and urban renewal programmes.

She consulted for DBSA Infrastructure Delivery Division on the City Support Programme that supported metros in the development of their Built Environment Plans and Comprehensive Infrastructure Investment Plans. She was General Manager at Housing Development Agency from 2012-2014 and initiated the Land Compensation Framework and Land Assembly Strategy to access public land and properties for Human Settlement purposes. The Priority Housing Development Areas (PHDA) Regulations gazetted in 2014 was also one of the deliverables. She previously served as Deputy Director General, at the Department of Cooperative Governance formerly Department of Provincial and Local Government (dplg) from July 2007 to February 2012.