Naoma Nagahawatte

As Director of the National Campaign to Restore Civil Rights (NCRCR), Naoma has worked with legal communities and civil society institutions to address the rollback of civil rights in the federal courts. Prior to joining NCRCR, Naoma helped form the New York City Office of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. There, she incepted and instituted advocacy and media campaigns to combat post-911 backlash against Muslim Americans, while creating initiatives to further facilitate Muslim participation in US civic life.

Naoma has also worked as an international human rights advocate, managing the Stop Violence Against Women in Darfur Project, and the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) initiative for Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). While at AIUSA, Naoma worked with members of Congress to end violence against refugees and internally displaced persons in Darfur. In addition, Naoma sat on the Working Group on Ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) - engaged in outreach and education towards CEDAW ratification.

As a Public Interest Law Foundation grantee, Naoma has worked as an anti-domestic violence advocate in New York City. She has also done policy work for groups including the Citizen's Union of the City of New York, and the New York City Charter Revision Commission.