The IABA Board of Directors and Advisory Board have appointed Banafsheh Aklhaghi to the IABA Board of Advisors.  Ms. Akhlaghi is the Former Western Regional Director, Amnesty International USA and the Founder and President of the National Legal Sanctuary for Community Advancement (NLSCA), a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring the human rights and dignity of Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (MEMSA) peoples.

 

Prior to practicing law, Ms. Akhlaghi was a professor of Constitutional Law and in 2001, Ms. Akhlaghi gave up her teaching position to create Akhlaghi & Associates, a private practice specializing in civil rights post 9/11.  In September of 2004, she transformed Akhlaghi & Associates into NLSCA, which has since emerged as a lead advocate of the human rights for the MEMSA community in the post-9/11 era. Since beginning this work, Ms. Akhlaghi has provided nearly 3200 individuals with direct legal services on a sliding-scale and pro-bono basis, via consultations, referrals, and direct representation.  In May of 2005, NLSCA broadened its focus to human rights at the internation al level, when Ms. Akhlaghi was retained as a consultant to the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). She has testified before Congress on numerous occasions, conducts cultural Sensitivity Trainings with branches of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

 

She has been honored with many awards and recognitions throughout the years, including the "Local Hero" award by the Bay Area Guardian; the "Rising Peacemaker Prize" by the Agape Foundation; nominated for the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award; honored with the "Legal Impact Award" by the Asian Law Alliance, recognized by the California Legislature Assembly with a House Resolution adopted in her name; honored with the Special Congressional Recognition, named by the Daily Journal (a publication for the legal community) as "Top 100 Most Influential Lawyers" in California in 2005 and "Top 100 Leading Lawyers" in 2006.

 

Ms. Akhlaghi received her B.A. from the University of San Francisco, with attendance at Cambridge University, and her Juris Doctorate from Tulane University.