Rangita de Silva de Alwis is a visiting fellow at the Harvard Law Human Rights Program. She is the inaugural Director of the Global Women’s Leadership Initiative a the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars. She specializes in women’s human rights law, policy making and institutional reform. He has worked for 15 years with Indian and Chinese gender and law experts, focusing on women living in Muslim communities.

Ms. De Silva de Alwis was a Teaching Fellow with the Harvard European Law Research Institute and a Research Fellow with the Women and Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School of Government. She has served as an advisor for UNICEF, UN Women, UNFPA and UNDP, and was an Honorary Professor of China Women’s University.

In the words of the HLS community member who nominated Ms. De Silva de Alwis, “It is simply not an understatement to say that she is a legend to [the women’s rights affiliates she worked with], her commitment, her friendships, her concerns.”