Rachel Levitan

Rachel Levitan is an independent consultant based in Washington, D.C., where she works with non-profit organizations and international agencies engaged in human rights advocacy, rule of law, and refugee protection issues. She conducts training and program evaluation, coordinates thematic working groups, and designs campaigns and field-based research. Until early 2012, Ms. Levitan worked as the Director of Advocacy for the Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration (ORAM), where, through legal representation and policy advocacy, she worked to increase international protection for individuals who flee persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Before joining ORAM, Ms. Levitan co-founded the Refugee Advocacy and Support Program of Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly (HCA), Turkey’s first and only legal clinic for refugees. As HCA’s Legal Director, Ms. Levitan managed legal services for thousands of refugees, primarily from Iran, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Ms. Levitan also set advocacy strategy, conducted legal training, and carried out fundraising for the program.

Prior to her work in Turkey, Ms. Levitan litigated race- and gender-based employment discrimination cases in federal court in New York. She also advocated for immigrant workplace rights, having coordinated a project to improve the working conditions of immigrant household workers. Ms. Levitan’s publications include ‘Unsafe Haven: Security Challenges Facing LGBT Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Turkey,’ in Praxis: The Fletcher Journal of Human Security; ‘Refugee Protection in Turkey,’ in Forced Migration Review; and ‘Unwelcome Guests: The Detention of Refugees in Turkey’s “Foreigners’ Guesthouses,”’ in Refuge: Canada’s Periodical on Refugees. Ms. Levitan received a B.A. from McGill University and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the University of British Columbia.