About Nazdeek

Sukti Dhital is a human rights lawyer and the Executive Director of the Robert and Helen Bernstein Institute for Human Rights at NYU School of Law—a human rights centre dedicated to advancing legal empowerment through participatory research, education, and advocacy. She also serves as a Supervising Attorney with the Global Justice Clinic at NYU Law, where she oversees legal empowerment projects spanning jailhouse lawyers and immigrant rights. Previously, Sukti was the Executive Director and Co-founder of Nazdeek, an award-winning legal empowerment organization committed to bringing access to justice closer to marginalized communities in India. She worked closely with affected communities and social movements to advance human rights through a community-driven approach, with a focus on indigenous and Dalit women. Prior to Nazdeek, Sukti assisted in securing landmark social and economic rights judgments including the first decision in the world to recognize maternal mortality as a human rights violation and to award constitutional damages. She has also worked at the American Civil Liberties Union’s Reproductive Freedom Project and as an appellate litigation associate at the firm of Bingham McCutchen LLP. Sukti received her BA from the University of Michigan and her JD from Northeastern University School of Law. Sukti believes deeply in community justice as a pathway towards building a more just world.

Francesca Feruglio is a human rights researcher and activist with a focus on socioeconomic rights and legal empowerment. Prior to co-founding Nazdeek, Francesca worked with international and grassroots organizations, both in Europe and in India, on issues of community accountability, discrimination and access to essential services for excluded communities such as migrants, women and ethnic minorities. In India, she contributed to the success of landmark cases addressing violations of reproductive rights, food security and housing rights for women, Dalits and indigenous people.

Currently, Francesca is also engaged as a Research Officer at the Institute for Development Studies in Brighton, UK, where she works on research and evaluation of legal empowerment and community accountability strategies for expanding access to health and nutrition. Her academic interests focus on the use of the law as a tool to counter socioeconomic inequality and address power abuses. Francesca holds a B.A. in History and Anthropology from University of Padua, Italy and a LL.M in International Human Rights Law from the National University of Galway, Ireland.

Jameen is an experienced strategy and project manager with over ten years of experience with organizations such as Oxfam International and Amnesty International (AI). She is currently the Deputy Director of Campaigns, South Asia for AI International Secretariat. Jameen has worked on social and economic rights initiatives including strategy management of the Demand Dignity campaign – AI's most ambitious campaign to date which focuses on economic, social and cultural rights. At Oxfam, Jameen's work centered on implementation of women's rights by addressing the discrimination faced by women in accessing their right to land, right to food and their right to participate in decision making processes. Jameen holds a L.L.M. in International Human Rights Law from the Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway Ireland.

Taryn Eckstein is a healthcare attorney in New York City. She is an Associate General Counsel at United Healthcare supporting the Network team. Previously, she was at a mid-sided law firm representing providers in state and administrative hearings in connection with denials of Medicaid applications by the Department of Social Services. Taryn also has over 7 years of experience in the public sector. Taryn worked for the New York City Department of Social Services representing the City of New York in administrative and civil actions for Medicaid eligibility and family law. While working for the City of New York, Taryn served as a Restoration Manager overseeing relief efforts and helping coordinate staff from local, federal and community-based organizations providing assistance to communities impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Prior to working for the City of New York, Taryn worked for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, focusing on health policy. Taryn has served as a Program Advisor for Nazdeek. Taryn received her J.D. from Northeastern University and B.A. from Mount Holyoke College.