She was born in New York and studied educational sciences before settling in Dar-es-Salaam and became a citizen of Tanzania after married a Tanzanian.

Mbiliniyi has dedicate herself to collaborate with and organize women to fight against patriarchy and neo-liberalism in Tanzania and beyond.

After her retirement from academia, she served as the Principal Policy Analyst at the Tanzania Gender Networking Program; later known as TGNP Mtandao from 2004–2014.

[1] She is married to Simon Mbilinyi, former minister and member of parliament who was the first chancellor of Open University of Tanzania.

Marjorie Mbilinyi has published 21 books and reports authored or co-authored and/or edited, including: