Nazeema Mohamed

Nazeema Mohamed’s academic life, professional trajectory, and political activism have all focused on resisting inequality and achieving social justice. Her life’s goals have concentrated on striving toward a values and ethics foundation that is respectful of human dignity and affirms our humanity.

As with many South Africans, the foundation of Nazeema’s activism against injustice was forged and developed in response to the inhumanity and brutality of the apartheid regime. She currently serves as the executive director of Inyathelo: The South African Institute for Advancement. Her organization works with nonprofit organizations, universities, and philanthropy and provides training and support for growing sustainable organizations. She has a wealth of experience in the area of social justice in higher education and university transformation and has introduced understanding of these areas and, in particular, issues related to diversity and inclusion, ethics, and integrity as integral components of their work on organizational culture and governance at Inyathelo.

Prior to joining Inyathelo, Nazeema served as director of Policy Development and Support in the Department of Education, the coordinator of the American Council on Higher Education’s strategic planning support initiative for Historically Black Universities, Transformation manager at the University of Cape Town, Transformation director at the University of the Witwatersrand, and program officer for the Social Justice and Universities Program Area of the Ford Foundation’s Southern Africa Office. She is a trained life coach and diversity and inclusion facilitator and has received training in popular education methodology.

While she has worked extensively with university communities, Nazeema has also facilitated workshops in nonprofit organizations and corporate South Africa. She was appointed by Nelson Mandela as a National Youth Commissioner in the first democratic government of South Africa. During the course of her career, she has served on several ministerial committees in higher education. She is currently a member of council at the University of Cape Town and serves on the board of South Africa History Online. Her master’s degree in higher education management from the University of London focused on policy development, gender equity, and gender-based violence in higher education.