Binaifer Nowrojee – human rights lawyer from Kenya, will become the first woman ever to lead Open Society Foundations (OSF) – a titan of funding for progressive causes and global human rights. Her appointment ends a 3-year period of restructuring for the pro-democracy organisation. She brings to the table an impressive resume, having spent years as a human rights lawyer, law professor and advocate. She also has deep experience with OSF, having worked here for over two decades.

Nowrojee was appointed President of OSF in a unanimous decision by the Board of Directors for the organisation. She is currently the Vice President for programmes at OSF. Speaking on the occasion, George Soros, Founder of OSF, shared, “This appointment is part of efforts to make the organisation truly global. At the outset, that was merely an aspiration. But now I feel that this ambition has been fulfilled with Binaifer Nowrojee as President of the Foundations, supported by an international team.”

Born in London to an Indian family and raised in Kenya, she is the daughter of Pheroze Nowrojee, a veteran human rights lawyer, poet and writer. Educated at Columbia, and Havard law schools, Binaifer has been working in the human rights arena for nearly thirty years, having also been Director for OSF in East Africa, regional director for Asia Pacific and Vice President for Organisational Transformation.

In a statement, Binaifer Nowrojee said, “I have accepted this position because I know that when Open Society is at its best, it is an inspiring place to work… As a lawyer, much of my professional life has focused on pushing international courts to deliver justice to victims of sexual violence in conflict. I am Kenyan, of Indian origin, and have lived and worked in Kenya, Tanzania, Singapore, the UK and US.” Her appointment has met with much enthusiasm from staff and former colleagues on social media.

Nowrojee joined OSF in 2004, leaving her position as a lecturer at Harvard Law School to lead Open Society’s East Africa office in Nairobi. After a decade in Kenya, Nowrojee moved to Singapore to become OSF’s regional director for Asia. She stayed there for seven years before beginning her role in the restructuring. Prior to OSF, Nowrojee worked for years prosecuting sexual violence under international law.

Binaifer Nowrojee is also an author and frequent commentator, having written a short book, ‘Divide and Rule: State-sponsored Ethnic Violence’, and co-authored, ‘Failing The Internally Displaced’.