Mozilla Announces Judges for Responsible Computing Challenge in South Africa

Prof. Muthoni Masinde

Prof. Muthoni Masinde is a distinguished professor and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology (FEBIT), at the Central University of Technology, Free State, with a 25-year career spanning research, teaching, and leadership. She has earned degrees in Computer Science from the University of Nairobi, the Free University of Brussels, and the University of Cape Town, as well as an MBA from the University of the Free State.

Recognized by South Africa’s National Research Foundation with a C2 rating, Masinde has published over 100 scientific works and mentored over 20 postgraduates. As the founder of ITIKI, Masinde combines Information Technology with Indigenous Knowledge to create drought prediction tools, greatly benefiting small-scale farmers. Her pioneering research in artificial intelligence has brought her international recognition, including the DST’s 2016 Distinguished Young Woman Scientist award and a USD500,000 USAID grant. Masinde is globally renowned as a speaker, advisor, and reviewer, participating in prestigious forums like the World Bank Food Security Forum and serving as an expert reviewer for the European Commission. She has delivered keynotes across the globe, made appearances on major media platforms like eNCA, CNN and BBC, and remains committed to sharing her expertise with small-scale farmers in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Pelonomi Moiloa

Pelonomi Moiloa is the CEO of Lelapa AI - a socially grounded research and product lab developing language technology for African languages. Lelapa AI has a mission to enable a noticeable uptick in the quality of life on the African continent. It aspires to do so through expanding the capacity of the African digital economy with resource-efficient language AI. Pelonomi is also a trustee of a girl scholarship fund and director of a community-based NPC. Pelonomi is drawn to the curiosities of community and connection in how they can inform imaginings of a better future, such that we can assist that future in arriving well. Pelonomi is an electrical and biomedical engineer by training, has been named by TIME as one of the 100 most influential people in AI, is a TED speaker, and was named a Bloomberg Catalyst in 2023.

Phumzile Van Damme

Phumzile Van Damme is a counter-disinformation, platform accountability, and digital rights specialist. An activist on these subjects, she serves on boards and advisory councils of organizations dedicated to fighting disinformation and, in particular, online violence against women and holding social media companies accountable for harm emanating from their platforms #ShePersisted and the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Online harassment and Abuse. Van Damme is also a 2023/24 Human Rights and Technology Fellow at Harvard University’s Carr Center. Her research focuses on generative AI's potential impact on African elections across Africa while weighing the potential benefits the technology may bring to the continent.

Van Damme has spoken on various platforms about disinformation, including at the UNDP, the UN Commission on the Status of Women, and Stanford University. She has also worked with international development agencies like USAID, DAI Global, and the Centre for Information Resilience on strategies to combat disinformation. As a former Member of Parliament in South Africa, she is passionate about bolstering legislative and regulatory measures as a bulwark against online harms. She was awarded the 2022 Vital Voices Global Leaders award for her work against online harm and is dedicated to making the Internet kinder, safer, and inclusive for all marginalized groups.

Tigist Shewarega Hussen

Dr. Tigist Shewarega Hussen works in the Women's Right Program (WRP) at Association for Progressive Communication (APC). She is the research lead and project coordinator for Feminist Internet Research Network (FIRN) project. She is also a Postdoc researcher at the Hub for Decolonial Feminist Psychologies in Africa, Department of Psychology, at the University of Cape Town. Her research interest focuses on the exploration of a digital Pan-African constellation of feminist digital activism for social justice across the continent.