Varaidzo Matimba

MERL Tech Initiative

Varaidzo is the AI Africa Lead at the MERL Tech Initiative. A researcher, lawyer, and creative working at the intersection of emerging technology policy, data governance, and human rights. She brings a community-centered, human rights lens to the design and evaluation of AI systems. Her work, rooted in Afrofeminism, focuses on dismantling monopoly power in technology, advancing equitable access, and ensuring that Global Majority communities are not merely represented in emerging technologies but that they shape, own, and govern them.

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