20 June 2025 – The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership today announces that Alice Spencer has been appointed as its permanent Executive Director for Education.
As Interim Education Director Alice has led CISL’s Education strategy and teams – empowering organisations and individual learners with the knowledge, tools and capabilities to drive transformational change.
Under Alice’s leadership hundreds of major organisations and thousands of leaders worldwide have gone on to align business performance with positive outcomes for society.
Alice said: “Today’s leaders often feel held in stasis between what is possible and what is necessary. But that’s not leadership. The bravery required to move forward in this next chapter will be extraordinary.
“The first half of my career focused on cascading and interacting tipping points: nature loss, climate crisis, deepening inequality. I have to remain hopeful that the second half will also be about tipping points: innovations that transform markets and build the sectors and industries of the future, powerful public-private collaboration that change the rules of game and drive transition, shifting consumer preferences and active citizen engagement to demand more of business and government, and co-create a better future.
“What a dream and a privilege to be working with the best in the business in this pursuit, leading exceptional teams and collaborating with a committed network of experts and allies, persevering often against the odds to drive real change for people, nature and climate.”
As former Director of Executive Education, Alice led CISL’s flagship Prince of Wales’s Business & Sustainability Programme, delivered in Cambridge, Melbourne, Singapore, Cape Town and virtually. She also led customised programmes for senior executive teams across banking, manufacturing, retail and other sectors. Her work ensures that CISL remains at the cutting edge of sustainability leadership, embedding systems thinking, global context awareness, and real-world problem-solving into executive learning.