Malika Saada Saar is a human rights lawyer and Senior Counsel on Civil and Human Rights for Google. She has dedicated her professional and personal lives to advocating for and protecting victims of sex trafficking, domestic abuse, and gender-based violence.
As Executive Director of The Rebecca Project, which she co-founded, Malika led a successful campaign urging legislators to pressure Craiglist to close its adult services section, a leading platform for child sex trafficking. She also successfully advocated for millions in federal funding for treatment services for at-risk families and ended the federal practice of shackling pregnant mothers behind bars in US prisons.
Malika is Founder and former Executive Director of the Human Rights Project for Girls (Rights4Girls), a human rights organization focused on gender-based violence against young women and girls. She also served as Special Counsel on Human Rights at The Raben Group and in 2010 had the honor of being selected by the Obama Administration to serve on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. Currently, Malika serves on the Boards of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights and Essie Justice Group. For her work, she has received widespread recognition. She was awarded the Al Filipov Peace & Justice Award and named one of “150 Women Who Shake the World” by Newsweek and the Daily Beast. In addition, The Rebecca Project was honored with the Leadership for Changing World award by the The Ford Foundation.
Malika holds a BA from Brown University, an MA in Education from Stanford University, and a JD from Georgetown University. She has been honored with the Roger Williams Award, Brown University’s highest alumni award, and by Georgetown Law Center's esteemed Robert F. Drinan Award for Public Service.
Google is a multinational, publicly-traded organization built around the company's search engine. Google's other enterprises include internet analytics, cloud computing, advertising technologies & web app, browser & operating system development.
The Raben Group is a national public affairs & strategic communications firm committed to making connections, solving problems & inspiring change across the corporate, nonprofit, foundation & government sectors.
Rights4Girls is a human rights organization which is dedicated to ending gender-based violence against girls & young women in the US. Rights4Girls works to change the policies that allow girls to be criminalized when they are victimized and advocate to provide girls & young women with support & safety.
The Rebecca Project for Justice is a transformational organization that advocates protecting life, dignity & freedom for people in Africa & the United States.
Family Rights & Dignity Program
Founder
1993 - 1998
San Francisco, CA, USA
Malika founded the Family Rights and Dignity Program, an initiative that focused on homeless women & families in the Bay Area.
Echoing Green identifies tomorrow’s transformational leaders today. Through its Fellowships & other innovative leadership initiatives, Echoing Green spots emerging leaders & invests deeply in their success to accelerate their impact.
The Brown Alumni Association established the William Rogers Award in 1984 to recognize an outstanding alumna or alumnus whose service to society in general is representative of the words of the Brown Charter: living a life “of usefulness & reputation.” It recognizes important contributions to humankind made by Brown alumni throughout the world.
Robert F. Drinan, S.J. Law Alumni Public Service Award
Washington, DC, USA
The Georgetown University Law Center was established in 1870, it is one of the professional graduate schools of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. & the second largest law school in the United States.
The Peabody Awards spotlight programs that demonstrate how media can defend the public interest, encourage empathy with others, and teach us to expand our understanding of the world around us.
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, founded in 1968, is led by human rights activist and lawyer Kerry Kennedy and advocates for a more just and peaceful world. Working alongside local activists to ensure lasting positive change in governments and corporations, the RFK team includes leading attorneys, advocates, entrepreneurs and writers united by a commitment to social justice.
Essie Justice Group is a non-profit organization of women with incarcerated loved ones taking on the injustices created by mass imprisonment. The company is growing a membership of fierce advocates for race & gender justice.
