Maha Jweied

Maha Jweied is the CEO of the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice an international non-profit organization working with companies to champion fairness, equality, and effectiveness across systems of punishment and incarceration. Previously, she worked with several organizations that partner with the business community to advance access to justice policy and practice in the United States, Europe, and across the globe, including the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, Kids in Need of Defense, and the Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies.

Ms. Jweied led the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Access to Justice, the primary office in the Executive Branch focused on supporting indigent defense and civil legal aid for low-income and vulnerable communities, including indigenous communities.  In that role, she also served as the Executive Director of the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable.  While with the Department, Ms. Jweied represented the US government as its indigent defense and legal aid expert in bilateral settings and multilateral meetings and negotiations at the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Open Government Partnership and the International Legal Aid Group.

Ms. Jweied is a member of the American Law Institute, a member of the Council on Criminal Justice, a member of the International Experts Panel of the Open Government Partnership’s Independent Reporting Mechanism, and an Advisor to the Pathfinders for Peaceful, Just and Inclusive Societies.