Bio

Ehsan Zaffar has served his country and community as a journalist, a first responder, a civil rights lawyer, a professor, a diplomat and a senior government official. Born overseas, he fled war as a child and came to the U.S. as a refugee. As an undergrad he launched a non-profit mentorship organization for young adults. As a young lawyer he pioneered a global mobile legal aid clinic model to bring legal care to those who needed it most. Most recently he advised the government on civil rights issues, and educates young people about civil rights, inequality and civil justice.

For his work to advance international religious freedom he was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy by the U.S. Department of State and is also the recipient of the Department of Homeland Security Secretary’s Award for Excellence for his civil rights and community engagement work throughout the United States.

Soon he’ll be joining the faculty and starting a Center on Inequality at Arizona State University.

Public Service

As Senior Advisor on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the Department of Homeland Security in Washington D.C., Ehsan advises the Secretary of Homeland Security and DHS components on the civil rights and civil liberties implications of existing and proposed national security policies, programs, and procedures. He leads the Department’s efforts to implement UNHRC Resolution 16/18 to combat intolerance and violence against persons on the basis of religion or belief. Ehsan also represents the Department on issues related to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and issues concerning the LGBTQ community. In addition to his policy work, he works to build resilience and diminish retaliation against diverse communities in the wake of domestic national security and natural disaster incidents. He has worked with victims on the ground after the tragic events at the 2013 Boston Marathon, the PULSE Nightclub in Florida, at the AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina and most recently after the tragic shooting in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Academic Appointments

In addition to his previous appointments, Mr. Zaffar is currently a member of the faculties of Georgetown University School of Law’s International Legal Institute, George Mason University, George Washington University and Temple University’s Fox School of Business. He teaches courses on civil rights and human rights, legal ethics, privacy, and economic justice. He has been invited to testify on these issues at the United States Congress and around the world, most recently in Spain, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Macedonia.

Non-Profit Work

Prior to government service, Ehsan worked in private practice and co-founded the Los Angeles Mobile Legal Aid Clinic (LAMLAC) which helped to pioneer the delivery of mobile legal care to low-income and vulnerable populations in California and abroad.

Community Service

Most recently Mr. Zaffar joined the Executive Board of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) California. He also serves on the Advisory Board for Team Rubicon, an organization that helps returning veterans apply their skills to assist diverse communities facing natural disasters. In the past he also served on the board of Developments in Literacy (DIL), a non-profit organization that develops teacher training tools for schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods as well as the Amani Institute, a social entrepreneurship curriculum training institute in Kenya, India and Brazil.

He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Chatham House (the British Royal Institute of International Affairs), the Pacific Council on International Policy and has previously served as a liaison to the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Standing Committee on National Security Law. He also serves as a Visiting Fellow on (In)Equality at the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy and is a Distinguished Non-Resident Scholar at the University of California Berkeley’s Center for Race and Gender.

Most recently, he participated as a member of the Aspen Institute’s Executive Leadership class of 2018.

Education

Mr. Zaffar graduated with honors from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and earned his J.D. in 2008 from Pepperdine University School of Law where he also completed his Certificate in Dispute Resolution from the Straus Institute. He is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States and also licensed to practice law in California and the District of Columbia. Mr. Zaffar also serves as a panel mediator on national security and civil rights matters with the Agency for Dispute Resolution.

Writing & Other Projects

He is a columnist at U.S. News & World Report and his writing has appeared on CNN.com, Slate, and The Huffington Post. His latest book, Understanding Homeland Security: Foundations of Security Policy was published in 2019 by Routledge Press.

Listen to UnfairNation, Mr. Zaffar’s podcast on power, inequality and civil justice, available on Apple Podcasts.