Elica Vafaie joined Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights from Advancing Justice- Asian Law Caucus where she was the Staff Attorney and Program Manager of the National Security & Civil Rights Program. Her work focused on legal services, litigation, policy advocacy, and Know Your Rights education protecting the civil rights of Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian communities, with a particular emphasis on the Muslim Ban. She worked with a variety of law firms, attorneys, and law students on pro bono cases to advance the program’s work. She is also the Chapter President, and former Pro Bono Chair, of the Iranian American Bar Association Northern California Chapter.

Elica formerly worked as the Supervising Attorney to establish the University of California Immigrant Legal Services Center providing free immigration legal services clinics and Know Your Rights training to UC students and their families across California. She was the Project Director of the One Nation Initiative at the California Community Foundation in Los Angeles where she managed the first philanthropic program in Southern California for Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian nonprofit organizations advancing civic engagement, policy advocacy, litigation, and capacity building.

Elica received her BA from UC Irvine and Sciences Po, Paris. She received her JD from UC Davis School of Law, where she was active in the Immigration Law Clinic and a UC Human Rights Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights. She is a 2015-2016 German Marshall Memorial Fellow.