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I am a highly motived and accomplished human rights leader with senior executive level experience in both the NGO and governmental sectors. I have led and expanded major organizations, departments and coalitions, prioritizing a partnership-driven approach to achieving reforms and implementing measures that have directly enhanced the economic security of millions of individuals. Licensed attorney. |
 Contact Milan Bhatt
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Area of Expertise: |
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Capacity Building, Training, Advocacy
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Director, CEO, COP, President
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Government, Governance, Reforms
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Human Rights, Law, Migration, Conflicts, Justice
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Monitoring, Evaluation, Policy, Research, Analysis
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Professional Experience: |
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I have served at the helm over multiple domestic NGOs (within the U.S), establishing stability and growth while always taking a mission-driven driven approach to enacting lasting change. This change has taken the form of higher wages and the recovery of wage stolen for hundreds of thousands of low-wage workers, justice for victims of human trafficking, domestic violence, and discrimination, greater access to government institutions and funding for immigrant and other marginalized populations, and in my role as Deputy Commissioner at NYSDOL numerous new laws and policies advancing the human rights of entire communities throughout the state. I have always placed a great premium on a partnership approach toward achieving progress and to that end have led multiple coalitions that brough together government agencies, labor unions, community-based organizations, legal service providers, and other stakeholders to maximize the impact of our collective efforts. Through the pandemic, in my leadership role in State Government, I stood up and oversaw major operations geared at protecting workers' safety and health at the workplace--my team conducted over 55,000 investigations in this realm alone. Perhaps the most significant achievement of my career, in recent months I executed the historic $2B Excluded Workers Fund program (details in section below) and a related grants program to provide support to over 70 community-based organizations statewide. All told, through my NGO management and governmental pursuits and accomplishments, institutions that I have led impacted the lives of literally millions of individuals and protected them from exploitation and abuse.
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Education: |
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I have attained both a BA in Psychology and a JD (law degree) that focused on international human rights. While in law school, I served as President of the International Law Society, devoted an entire semester to comparative studies in Hamburg and London, and during my summers served with Amnesty's National Refugee Program and subsequently with the Office of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
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Affiliations and Achievements: |
Led implementation of the historic Excluded Workers Fund providing 2B in direct pandemic relief to 130,000 individuals who were otherwise ineligible for COVID relief funds. This initiative further served as a model for other states seeking to replicate its impact.
Led various large scale COVID response efforts throughout NYS including combatting widespread violations of pandemic related standards and thwarting tens of billions of dollars in attempted benefits fraud.
Recovered over 100M in unpaid wages on behalf of workers whose human rights have been violated through high impact litigation and administrative proceedings.
Led a merger to create the Worker Justice Center of NY, where I subsequently as Co-Executive Director.
Served on the board of directors of multiple human rights related bodies.
Led and expanded a $70M Division with the State Labor Department comprised of 500 staff.
Helped spearhead and implement an HIV/AIDS awareness program targeting rural youth in Durban, South Africa.
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Available for: |
- Consulting assignments
- Job opportunities
- Being headhunted – make me an offer
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