Mantate Queeneth Mlotshwa

Mantate Queeneth Mlotshwa is a Zimbabwean development practitioner, creative entrepreneur, and speaker passionate about democracy and governance. Mantate is studying the MSc in African Studies at the University of Oxford as a member of St Cross College. She is a Mastercard Foundation AfOx Scholar. 

Mantate holds a BSc in Psychology from the University of Zimbabwe. She has served as the Program Lead for Arts4Change, a USAID-supported initiative co-led by Magamba Network and Accountability Lab Zimbabwe. Before this, she worked as a Senior Program Associate at the International Republican Institute and a Programs Associate at the Women’s Institute for Leadership Development. Her work sought to strengthen the capacity of marginalised groups to meaningfully contribute to governance processes.

In addition to her development work, Mantate is also an entrepreneur and creative visionary. She is the founder and creative lead of U Motle, a fashion brand dedicated to telling stories of African culture and women. Mantate extends her advocacy into digital and public spaces as well; she co-hosts the Resistance Bureau and Civic Space Today with Southern Defenders, platforms that address issues related to democracy, human rights, and freedom in Africa.

Mantate's work has been featured in various publications, such as The Continent, The New Renaissance, and the global handbook on youth participation published by the European Democracy Youth Network in 2023.

She co-authored Turquoise Dreams, a short story anthology about Zimbabwean women. She advocates for digital tools to promote social change and speaks regularly at conferences on democracy, governance, and youth participation.

Post her Oxford studies, Mantate hopes to contribute to research that will inform democracy, rights and governance programming in Zimbabwe and the continent.