Maheen Kaleem

Biography

Maheen Kaleem, Esq. is a human rights lawyer who has dedicated her life to creating a world where girls of color are safe and free. She is the Deputy Director at Grantmakers for Girls of Color, a philanthropic organization dedicated to amplifying and mobilizing resource to supportive transformative organizing work led by girls and gender-expansive youth of color. She has nearly twenty years of experience supporting youth and families impacted by interpersonal and state violence to lead efforts to advance racial and gender justice. Maheen has always grounded her work in the wisdom of women and girls of color who have survived the carceral system, sexual exploitation, and abuse. She served as Program Officer at the NoVo Foundation, and led the development of The Life Story Grants, a $10 million three-year commitment to support projects that close on-ramps into the sex trade and open exit ramps for survivors. Prior to joining NoVo, she was a staff attorney at Rights4Girls, a human rights organization dedicated to ending gender-based violence impacting marginalized girls and young women, where she advocated for the successful passage of numerous laws and policies at the federal, state, and local levels. She has co-authored several reports including The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline: A Girls’ Story, and Beyond the Walls: A Look at Girls in D.C.’s Juvenile Justice System. She holds both bachelor’s and law degrees from Georgetown University. Maheen is a first generation Pakistani-American who was raised mostly in the bay area of California, on Ohlone land. She was an Equal Justice Works Fellow, a Stoneleigh Emerging Leader Fellow, and National Juvenile Justice Youth Justice Leadership Institute Fellow.