Nisha Agarwal is committed to social justice and inspires others “to keep their eye on the prize.” Agarwal was recently appointed Commissioner of New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. In addition, with the Center for Popular Democracy, she coordinates the Immigrants & Civil Rights policy support work and her work includes campaigns related to immigration enforcement and integration, community policing, health disparities and a range of other issues. She was previously the Director of the Health Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, which she first joined as a Skadden Public Interest Fellow focusing on promoting racial justice and immigrant rights in health care advocacy. In collaboration with community-based organizations in New York City, Agarwal worked on legislative campaigns related to racial discrimination in hospitals, medical deportation, and the closure of community hospitals and clinics in medically under-served areas. She has also worked on legislation on language rights and was the primary drafter of the NYC Language Access in Pharmacies Act, the first law of its kind in the country. Nisha sits on the board of the Gotham Health Center and is a Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School. She also serves as the Executive Director of the newly created Immigrant Justice Corps.

Agawal is a graduate of Harvard College and Oxford University and earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School.