Sasha Stevenson is a human rights lawyer and the Executive Director of SECTION27, an influential organisation that leverages the Constitution and law to secure health and education rights and advance social justice. Stevenson holds degrees from Rhodes University and an LLM from the University of Cambridge. For over a decade, she has driven health system reforms to fulfil rights. Her expertise spans litigation and advocacy on migrant health, abortion access, and medicine availability. She has authored book chapters and articles on the right to health, climate justice, and the right to food, and has presented at international and domestic conferences on these topics.

Advocate Louisa Zondo is a co-founder of the Riky Rick Foundation for the Promotion of Artivism. She is also the Chairperson of the Barloworld Empowerment Foundation and a former Chairperson of Oxfam South Africa. A lawyer and social activist, she served as Deputy Executive Director of the Constitutional Assembly during South Africa’s transition from apartheid, and later became Chief Executive of the South African Human Rights Commission in 1996. Advocate Zondo holds a BProc degree from the University of Limpopo, a LLB degree from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and a Master of Laws degree specialising in public law and political science from the London School of Economics. In 2023, she published “Dearest MaRiky: A Mother’s Journey Through Grief, Trauma and Healing”, a memoir of life with her late son. Zondo’s passion is at the intersection of arts, culture, climate justice, and activism towards a just, connected, life-supporting world.

Mark Heywood is a human rights and social justice activist whose work has spanned several decades of advocacy for healthcare, education, and constitutional rights. He studied English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford, and later pursued African Literature at the University of the Witwatersrand. In 2010, he co-founded SECTION27, a public-interest law centre dedicated to advancing constitutional rights, and served as its Executive Director until 2017. In addition to this work, he has helped establish several prominent civil society organisations, including the AIDS and Rights Alliance of Southern Africa (ARASA), Corruption Watch, and Save South Africa. Heywood has extensive experience in constitutional litigation aimed at realising socio-economic rights and has written widely on HIV, human rights, law, and politics. He is also a writer and public commentator, and formerly served as co-editor of Maverick Citizen, a social justice section of Daily Maverick.

Andries Nel is the Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development. He holds a Bachelor of Civil Law from the University of Pretoria. During South Africa’s democratic transition, he was a member of the Constitutional Assembly between 1994 and 1996 and contributed to the drafting of the country’s Constitution, including work on committees dealing with the judiciary and legal system. Over more than three decades in public service, Nel has held several leadership positions and served on numerous portfolio committees. Throughout his career, he has remained committed to constitutional democracy, human rights, and expanding access to justice in South Africa.

Zulaikha Patel is a distinguished human rights activist and advocate, international speaker, and best-selling author. With close to 10 years of public activism. Having started her activism at the age of 13, she sparked global discourse on hair and institutionalised racism. She has published two children’s books, ‘My Coily Crowny Hair’ and ‘Brave Like Me’, which are best-selling books in South Africa. Dare To Change is a non-profit which she founded in 2022 to focus on the eradication of childhood illiteracy. She has worked to provide libraries in rural disenfranchised communities in South Africa, impacting over 8000 children. Her work focuses on anti-racism, decolonisation, youth empowerment, climate change, economics, and GBV, solidifying her position as a leading voice in the fight for social justice on the global stage.