Binta Niambi Brown

Binta Niambi Brown is a former partner in a large global law firm, currently taking a six month sabbatical to focus on other projects. She has represented corporate clients in connection with merger and acquisition transactions, public and private debt and equity offerings, and secured debt financings, and has advised general counsel and senior management officials of Fortune 1000 companies with respect to corporate governance matters. Also a startup advisor, Fortune Magazine listed her on its list of business’s 40 under 40 “hottest rising stars,” and the World Economic Forum honored her as a Young Global Leader in 2012. She was also named as one of the 2011 “40 Under 40” professionals in Crain’s New York Business, and the National Organization for Women recognized her as a “Woman of Power and Influence” in June 2011.

She was an informal national security advisor to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign, where she focused in particular on human rights and international institutions. In 2006, she served on Governor Eliot Spitzer's transition team as a member of his Transportation Policy Advisory Committee. In 2010, Binta served on Governor Andrew Cuomo's transition team, again as a member of his Transportation Policy Advisory Committee.

A 2013-14 Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government (where she is researching the intersection of business and human rights), Binta is a member of the Harvard Women's Leadership Board, the Council on Foreign Relations and is a Truman National Security Fellow. She is a Trustee of Barnard College, Columbia University, a Trustee of each of the New York City Parks Foundation and the American Theatre Wing (and a Tony Voter), and is a member of the Board of Directors of Human Rights First.

Her pro bono practice has included advocating on behalf of women and girls, assisting with democratic institution-building and rule-of-law reforms, and engaging in other human rights matters throughout the world. In 2005, the U.S. Army and the Fifth Division of the Iraqi Army honored Binta for her pro bono support of a military operation that resulted in securing emergency medical care in the U.S. for a young Iraqi civilian.

For pleasure, Binta plays the electric bass (in New York City area bands), piano and banjo, and is an avid photographer. A frequent half-marathoner, Binta also enjoys cycling, practicing tae kwon do and spending time reading to her chocolate labrador, Ms. Rosa Parks.