Awista Ayazi is a human rights defender, impact litigator, and legal strategist. Her expertise integrates experience in high-stakes litigation, transnational investigation, and partnership with impacted communities to uncover abuses, advance justice, and influence systemic reform. She is a former AmLaw 100 litigator with a career spanning diverse experiences across 15 countries on four continents.

From corporate accountability lawsuits to multimillion-dollar projects with international NGOs and the U.S. Department of State, Awista has worked to amplify silenced voices and support vulnerable communities. She has represented survivors of genocide and other atrocity crimes in mass litigation against corporate giants like Meta and Exxon, and worked alongside frontline environmental and human rights defenders in grassroots advocacy.

She currently collaborates with an investigative firm to transform high-profile exposés into strategic environmental and human rights litigation. Awista also serves as an adjunct professor at The George Washington University Law School, teaching a seminar on the intersection of human rights and environmental protection.

Awista earned her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center while serving as a judicial extern for the Hon. Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for D.C. She also holds an LL.M. in International Human Rights Law from Oxford Brookes University in the U.K.

Outside of work, Awista finds joy in movement, nature, and deep connection, whether it’s rock climbing, kite surfing, or sharing slow moments with loved ones.