Dr. Penina Mlama is Executive Director of the Campaign for Female Education (Camfed), an organization in Tanzania dedicated to fighting poverty and AIDS in rural Africa. Before joining Camfed, she was Executive Director of the Forum of African Women Educationalists (FAWE), a Kenya-based organization. Previously, Dr. Mlama served as the head of the Art, Music, and Theatre Department and Chief Academic Officer at Dar es Salaam University.

A Tanzanian who now lives in Nairobi, Dr. Mlama has also been active in a number of other organizations, including the UNESCO National Commission Executive Committee, the International Association for Theatre for Children and Young People, and the Pan African Writers Association. Among her awards, she has received the Woman of the Year by the American Biographical Institute Research Association. She holds a PhD in Theatre Arts from the University of Dar es Salaam.