Layli Miller-Muro

Layli Miller-Muro is an American attorney and activist. She is the founder and Executive Director of Tahirih Justice Center, a national non-profit dedicated to protecting women from human rights abuses such as rape, female genital mutilation/cutting, domestic violence, human trafficking, and forced marriage. Tahirih’s holistic model for protection combines free legal services and social services case management with public policy advocacy, education, and outreach.^[1]

Human rights advocacy

Miller-Muro founded the organization in 1997 following her involvement in Matter of Kasinga, a high-profile case that set national precedent and changed asylum law in the United States. Fauziya Kassindja, a 17-year-old girl who had fled Togo in fear of a forced polygamous marriage and a tribal practice known as female genital mutilation, was granted asylum in 1996 by the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals.^[2] This decision opened the door to recognizing gender-based persecution as grounds for asylum. Using her portion of the proceeds from a book she and Kassindja co-authored about the case (Do They Hear You When You Cry? Delacorte Press, 1998), Miller-Muro established Tahirih.^[3]

Since 2001, Miller-Muro has led Tahirih in its service to over 19,000 women and children,^[4] growing the non-profit from a staff of 6 to over 50, and expanding its offices from Greater DC to Houston and Baltimore.^[5] In recognition of its sound management and innovative programs, under Miller-Muro’s leadership, Tahirih won The Washington Post Award for Management Excellence^[6] and gained recognition for its innovative use of pro bono services in the Stanford Social Innovation Review.^[7]

Prior to joining Tahirih as Executive Director in 2001, Miller-Muro was an attorney at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Arnold & Porter where she practiced international litigation. Prior to joining Arnold & Porter, Miller-Muro was an attorney-advisor at the U.S. Department of Justice, Board of Immigration Appeals.^[8]

Education

Miller-Muro received her JD and MA in International Relations from American University and B.A. from Agnes Scott College.^[9]

Recognition

Among her many awards and recognitions, Miller-Muro was named DC Young Mother of the Year in 2015 by American Mothers Inc.^[10] She was also named one of 50 powerful women religious leaders to celebrate on International Women’s Day in 2014 by The Huffington Post,^[11] and, in 2013, she received an honorary doctorate from Northern Illinois University.^[12] In 2012, she was recognized for her work at Tahirih and named one of Newsweek/The Daily Beast 's 150 Most Fearless Women in the World.^[13] In the same year, she received Diane Von Fürstenberg's People's Voice Award^[14] and made the list of Goldman Sachs' Top 100 Most Innovative Entrepreneurs.^[15] Additionally, in 2010, she was awarded the Smart CEO Brava! Women Business Achievement Award which recognizes 25 female executives who are exemplary leaders within their companies and communities at large.^[16]

Personal life

Miller-Muro lives in greater Washington, DC with her husband, Gil Miller-Muro, and their three children. She is an active member of the Bahá’í Faith.^[17]

See also

• Bahá'í Faith and gender equality

References

External links

• Tahirih Justice Center
• Biography
• Justice and Equality – a basis for change in our troubled world, a talk given by Miller-Muro at the 5th annual Margaret Stevenson Memorial Dinner and Lecture, July 17, 2004.
• Innovate: Justice: Layli Miller-Muro@TEDxGrandRapids, May 12, 2011