Maryam Elahi joins the Community Foundation of Eastern Connecticut
after twenty-five years of leadership in the international human rights
community as an advocate, teacher and grant-maker. She was previously
the director of the International Women’s Program at the Open Society
Foundations, a global philanthropic organization, where she supported
organizations empowering women in conflict and post-conflict countries.
Prior to OSF, Ms. Elahi was the founding director of the Human Rights
Program at Trinity College in Hartford. She established the first
undergraduate college human rights program in the United States. She
taught courses on international human rights law at Trinity, as well as at
the Oxford University Summer International Human Rights Program. During her ten years at Trinity, she
traveled extensively to set up international programs with a human rights focus, resulting in the
establishment of programs in Cape Town, Santiago, Trinidad, and Hong Kong.
Ms. Elahi served as the Advocacy Director on the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe for Amnesty
International in DC from 1990 to 1997. During this period, she testified frequently before congressional
committees, lectured widely, and made presentations before the media, policy and academic institutions.
She had previously developed AI’s work on gender and human rights. She has carried out missions for AI
and other human rights organizations to numerous countries, including Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Iraq,
Turkey, Turkmenistan, Northern Ireland, and Guatemala.
She also worked at the Lawyer’s Committee for Human Rights in 1988-89.
Ms. Elahi was the chair of the International Human Rights Committee of the American Bar Association,
and has served on numerous boards including the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and
Children, the ACLU of Connecticut, and AI’s Policy Board. She has written and lectured on a wide range
of human rights and foreign policy issues. Some of her publications include “Seizing the Day in Iran”
(The Boston Globe), “Physician Participation in Human Rights Abuses in Southern Iraq” (JAMA),
“Doctors with ‘Dirty Hands’” (Washington Post), “Military Tribunals: A Travesty of Justice” (HUMAN
RIGHTS), “War Without end on Congo’s Women” (Project Syndicate), and “Put Hussein on Trial for
Crimes Against Humanity” (The Hartford Courant).
She is a graduate of Tuft University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Boston College Law
School, and Williams College. Ms. Elahi is a member of the DC and MA Bar Associations. She has made
her home in Old Saybrook, CT since 2000.