Elham Youssefian

Elham Youssefian is a blind human rights lawyer born and raised in Iran holding a Master of Human Rights Law from the London School of Economics. Before immigrating to the United States in 2015, Elham had studied and practiced law in Iran, and advocated for the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by the Iranian government. In the United States, Elham lead significant research documenting violations of disability rights in Iran. Elham worked as the senior advisor for the International Disability Alliance from 2019 to 2023, and has recently joint the International Refugee Assistance Project as Director of Disability Inclusion and Accessibility. Elham was recognized as one of the BBC’s 100 Influential Women in 2023 because of her advocacy on inclusion of persons with disabilities in climate action.