Themba Mahleka is a Senior Program Officer with Justice for All, a flagship initiative of the Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies project at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation (CIC). With over a decade of experience, he has built a career at the intersection of access to justice, legal technology and innovation, governance, transparency and accountability—across Zimbabwe, South Africa, and the United States.
He began his career as a practicing attorney specializing in labor/employment and commercial law. It was through his litigation work in labor law that his deep commitment to access to justice was sparked—a passion that has guided his professional path ever since.
He went on to serve as Senior Legal Officer at Transparency International (TI), where he led the policy and legislation unit. In this role, he was instrumental in advocating for stronger implementation and enforcement of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC). He notably authored a civil society parallel report evaluating Zimbabwe’s compliance with UNCAC obligations.
He then joined the Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL), first as an Innovating Justice Agent and later as Co-Head of the HiiL Innovation Hub for Southern Africa. There, he led efforts to identify and support justice innovations across the region, working closely with legal start-ups and initiatives to provide financial, technical, and operational support through HiiL’s Justice Accelerator. He also played a foundational role as a founding board member of the Innovation Hub.
He holds an LLB from the University of the Witwatersrand and a Postgraduate Certificate in Corporate Governance from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa.