The Responsible Business Initiative for Justice (RBIJ) announced today that Maha Jweied has been named Co-CEO of the international award-winning nonprofit, assuming joint leadership responsibilities for the organization with founder and Co-CEO Celia Ouellette. Ms. Ouellette writes:

"I'm a long-standing believer in the power of collaboration and joint leadership and firmly believe that the best organizations are ones with diversity of perspective and experience at the top. I'm so proud of RBIJ's journey to date, and the opportunity to share leadership with Maha — a wise and brilliant colleague — is a point of huge pride for me personally and professionally."

Ms. Jweied is an international expert on access to justice, who has worked with a number of  nonprofit and multilateral organizations after spending nearly a dozen years in the U.S. Government’s Executive Branch. She previously led the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Access to Justice and served as the Executive Director of the White House Legal Aid Interagency Roundtable. During that time, she also served as the U.S. Government’s Subject-Matter Expert for UN Sustainable Development Goal 16 indicator identification and development. In recent years, she has worked extensively with the business community to advance access to justice through policy and practice, including as RBIJ’s Chief Strategy Officer. Her selection comes following an extensive process conducted in partnership with nonprofit and social impact executive search firm Koya Partners/Diversified Search Group. She explains:

"I'm honored and excited to be joining Celia in this role.  I have long admired her vision and creativity in pursuing justice for all and share her belief that businesses are important leaders in advancing justice. RBIJ is a remarkable organization — with an amazing and dedicated team — and I'm thrilled to be able to support them from this new position." 

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. She is also Co-Chair of the Advisory Board of New Perimeter, the non-profit affiliate of the global law firm of DLA Piper. She received her J.D. from Columbia Law School, LL.M. from the London School of Economics, and B.A. from The George Washington University.