Laleh Ispahani

Authored for Print issue Vol 71.1 Democracy published in 2017-18

Laleh Ispahani is Acting Deputy Director for US Programs at the Open Society Foundations, where she also directs US Programs’ work on democratic practice. Before joining the Open Society Foundations in 2008, Ms. Ispahani, a lawyer and advocate specializing in democracy and human rights issues, spent six years as senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union working on racial justice and human rights. She sought to reverse felony disenfranchisement policies, and worked with allies on a national campaign of public education and advocacy, litigation, and federal and state executive and legislative reform. As part of that work, she produced a documentary film, Democracy’s Ghosts, and published in popular as well as academic journals. Prior to joining the ACLU, Ms. Ispahani litigated campaign finance reform issues at the Brennan Center for Justice. Ms. Ispahani received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and her law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.