“what if i fall?”
Oh, but my darling
What if you fly?
Born Ashmore Sakhile Nkuna on February 1988 at Masana Hospital in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga. Ashmore was born male but through discovering her true gender identity at age six, later transitioned to female, making her a transsexual woman. Ashmore was employed as a Transformation Coordinator at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), tackling issues that addressed gender equality, inclusion and the celebration of diversity. As an employee of the UJ for almost 10 years, she advocated for the rights of persons with disabilities and the LGBTI community, through driving various awareness campaigns within the university. Ashmore holds a National Diploma in Public Relations Management and a Bachelor of Technology in Business Administration, both acquired from the University of Johannesburg.
Accompanying these qualifications are other personal interests such as public speaking, singing, modelling, philanthropy and entrepreneurship. She is former executive member of the Higher and Further Education Disability Services Association (HEDSA), an advocacy and rights-based non-profit organisation representing disability services in Higher and Further Education Institutions in South Africa. Within this organisation, Ashmore held the position of Publicity and Communications Officer. Ashmore is the owner of MECAE Management- a Media, Communications and Events Management Company. As a woman who went through a journey of self identity followed by a sex-reassignment surgery (male-to-female), she has been openly sharing her journey publicly with the hope of combating and/or addressing some of the stereotypes, stigmas and assumptions that are associated with this marginalised, discriminated and often harmed population, purely due to the misconceptions associated with their gender identity, expression and sexual orientation.