Esther Mwema

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Esther Mwema

Internet Infrastructure . Internet Governance . Internet Freedom

Esther Mwema is an award-winning artist who builds tools to solve digital inequalities and achieve social justice.

“Our imagination in the digital era should not be limited by the framing of big tech monopolies. Let’s put people back at the center of technology.”

—Esther Mwema

Read the paper by Esther Mwema and Dr. Abeba Birhane:
Undersea Cables in Africa - new frontiers of Digital Colonialism

Listen In on Esther’s Thoughts:

MOZILLA FESTIVAL HOUSE AMSTERDAM.
REVEALING THE INTERNET’S INVISIBLE CARBON FOOTPRINT.

BITS & BAUME.
COLONIAL IMAGINATIONS: BIG TECH AND UNDERSEA CABLES IN AFRICA

THE FEMININJA PODCAST.
DIGITAL COLONIALISM AND WHO OWNS OUR UNDERSEA CABLES.

VOICE OF PUBLIC INTEREST TECHNOLOGY PODCAST.
THE INTERSECTION OF ARTS, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL IMPACT.

FUTURE MONEY F|M PODCAST.
SIKHULA SONKE: LIVING ARCHIVES OF AFROFUTURIST VILLAGE BANKING.

Connect to Esther’s Work:

Afro-Grids
Mozilla Creative Media Awardee. Internet infrastructure and digital colonialism in Africa.

Digital Grassroots
Founder. Leader in Action Coalition for Technology and Innovation for Gender Equality. Steering Committee in Feminist Accountability Framework.

Safety First for Girls (SAFIGI)
Founder . Creator of Holistic Safety Analysis and Intervention tool for at-risk girls.

Bow to Enter Heaven - Collection
Author and Book Cover Artist. Five Short Stories.

Digital Rights Monopoly Game
Co-Creator. Gamifying Digital Literacy.

Sikhula Sonke: Living Archives of Afrofuturist Village Banking
Future|Money Awardee. Creating living archives of village banking in Southern Africa.

Esther Mwema is Award-winning artist and digital inequalities from Zambia. She is an expert in Internet governance, internet infrastructure and Internet freedom. Esther’s practice intersects art and tech-innovation, interrogating hidden systems of power in digital society ranging from fiber optic cables, digital colonialism, to gender inequality.

Esther has over 10 years commitment to social impact at the grassroots via her non-profits Digital Grassroots and Safety First for Girls (SAFIGI) Foundation; Esther has done extensive work within the UN system. Esther is an Open Internet for Democracy leader who centers African feminist and decolonial methodologies in practice.

She is recipient of the Green Screen Coalition Catalyst Fund, C/Change R&D Creative lab, Prince Claus Seed Award Grant sponsored by the Ing Yoe Tan Foundation, and the Interledger Foundation Future|Money Art & Culture grant. She received the 2022 Mozilla Creative Media award. Esther is an Open Internet leader who prioritises African feminist and decolonial practices.

Her pen name is Assah M’wema.

Work with Esther Mwema to innovate for a digital ecosystem that is equal and centered on human dignity.

Esther is open for collaborations as follows:

Literary Agent. Represent me and my Epic fantasy manuscript that displays a tapestry about how trauma shapes society; with themes of religion, migration, and loneliness embedded in a world of seadragons and deities.
Consultation. on Internet governance, Internet freedom, digital inequality, digital rights and innovation, centered on human rights and civil society. My expertise also extends to curriculum development and creative interventions.
Public speaking. paid speaking engagements, masterclasses and trainings on internet governance, grassroots organizing, and open Internet leadership.
Art. sponsor my abstract art exhibitions, storytelling - writing and live readings, poetry, and creative writing projects in fantasy and afro-futurism themes.
Funding. and advancing the work of Digital Grassroots, Afro-Grids, Safety First for Girls, art and fiction writing.