Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, LL.M., S.J.D.
Senior Advisor on International Programs
Rangita de Silva-de Alwis is the senior advisor on international programs at the Wellesley Centers for Women where she takes the lead on new global initiatives for the organization. A legal advocate with her LL.M. and S.J.D. from Harvard Law School, Rangita is also a research fellow at the Women and Public Policy Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and brings a wealth of experiences working with women’s groups in Asia on the rights of women and children.
For nearly seven years, Rangita served as the director of international programs at the Spangenberg Group, a research and consulting firm based in Massachusetts specializing in improving justice programs. Responsible for all aspects of international programming, she conceptualized, developed, and carried out programs to strengthen the rule of law and human rights framework in China, Vietnam, Pakistan, and programs with a regional focus in Asia. Rangita also assisted the United National Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in reviewing and implementing the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in China, and wrote a 16-country study on girl child labor for UNICEF. She has served as a consultant to other UN agencies and offices committed to children, human rights, and social advancement, and as a senior advisor to the Public Health Advocacy Institute at Northeastern University Law School. Rangita’s work has been published in the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism and Texas Law School Women's Law Journal.
Rangita currently leads initiatives on 1) women's rights issues in China, 2) Asia regional law reform, 3) gender equality and domestic violence laws from around the world , and 4) an Asia regional conference on women's and children's rights
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