KAVITHA SREEHARSHA

Kavitha serves as Senior Director, Immigrant Justice Philanthropy for the Emerson Collective. In this capacity, she designs and implements strategies to support national and local immigrant rights advocacy and services to immigrants. Kavitha’s collaboration with Untraditional Philanthropy represents her personal commitment to the work we do; her role with the Emerson Collective is mentioned for affiliation purposes and to shine the spotlight on that organization’s great work.

Prior to her work with the Emerson Collective, Kavitha served as a Program Officer at the Sobrato Family Foundation where she led investments of critical safety net and career pathways programs for low-income Silicon Valley residents.

Before her work in philanthropy, Kavitha spent over a decade working with non-profits on immigrant rights, as a direct services immigration attorney, through public policy advocacy and providing national technical assistance. She began her career representing immigrants and designing and overseeing a pro bono project. While in California and later working in Washington DC, Kavitha successfully drafted and advocated for state and federal legislation and administrative advocacy expanding protections for immigrant victims of crime.

Kavitha has also served as a national trainer on immigration issues related to crime victims working with law enforcement, judges, and attorneys to ensure immigrants were protected as they navigated these systems. At the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, Kavitha fought against the injustices experienced by immigrants in places like Maricopa County, AZ. She then co-founded the Global Freedom Center, where she developed tools and trainings while also authoring a book to assist individuals to better identify and access protections for trafficked and exploited undocumented workers.

Kavitha received her bachelor’s degree from U.C. Berkeley and J.D. from U.C. Hastings College of the Law. She is also the proud daughter of immigrants who instilled in her a strong value for justice.