Mai El-Sadany (Egypt/United States)

Mai El-Sadany is a human rights lawyer specializing in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. She is currently the Executive Director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP), an organization dedicated to centering the expertise of advocates from and in the region in policy discourse to foster transparent, accountable, and just societies.

Throughout her career, El-Sadany has worked to expand creative pathways to accountability, leveraging international and regional mechanisms to advance human rights, while producing accessible legal analysis and scholarship. She previously worked with the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

She serves on the Advisory Network for the Human Rights and Business Award and is a Board Member of HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement. El-Sadany holds a JD and a certificate in refugees and humanitarian emergencies from Georgetown University Law Center, and a BA in Political Science from Stanford University.