Mutale Nkonde

Mutale Nkonde is currently pursing a PhD at Cambridge University in the Department of Digital Humanities.
In March 2020 Nkonde started AI for the People (AFP) a public sector Responsible AI Team that focuses on product policy. It is built around the policy advocacy work Nkonde had been doing in Congress since 2017. When she was a fellow at Data and Society, and later at the Berkman Klein Center at Harvard.
In 2019 Nkonde's efforts led to her becoming the lead advocate for the introduction of the Algorithmic Accountability Act (AAA). In 2023 Nkonde took part in one of Senator Schumer's AI Insight Panels and in 2024 she took part in a series of White House Roundtables on AI. In 2025 AFP began their journey as shareholder activists and hope to continue on this path.
Nkonde has a BSc. (Hons) in Sociology from Leeds Metropolitan University, a Masters Degree in American Studies from Columbia University. And has held fellowships at Notre Dame, and Stanford and is currently a visiting policy fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute.
Selected Publication
Mutale Nkonde, Maria Rodriguez, Leonard Cortana, Joan Mukogosi, Shakira King, Ray Serrato, Natalie Martinez, Mary Drummer, Ann Lewis, Momin Malik
Jan 2021 • The Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review
Facial Recognition in Brooklyn, New York
May 2020 • Harvard Kennedy School Journal of African American Policy 2019-2020, 30-36
Why Ethics, Diversity in Hiring & Implicit Bias Trainings Aren't Enough
Jessie Daniels, Mutale Nkonde, Darakhshan Mir
May 2019 • Data & Society
Media Appearance
May 2021 • Gadgets 360
May 2021 • CBC News
Feb 2021 • Fortune Brainstorm Podcast
Feb 2021 • Short Wave
Jan 2021 • ECommerce Times
Jan 2021 • The Future of Everything
Sep 2020 • Wall Street Journal
Jun 2020 • TechRepublic
Jun 2020 • MIT Technology Review
Jun 2020 • Wall Street Journal
Jun 2020 • Digital Trends
Jun 2020 • New York Times
May 2020 • Side of Knowledge podcast
Mutale Nkonde, Ruha Benjamin and Safiya Umoja Noble
Nov 2019 • Venture Beat