United States
April 25, 2019

Justice, accountability and reform processes have been central tenets of Kimberly Brown’s life and career.

Kimberly, 34, first became engaged with justice sector reforms during her tenure as a litigation paralegal at Davis Polk & Wardwell in NYC where she worked on several pro bono wrongful criminal conviction and political asylum cases, as well as large-scale Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases that included international development debarment processes. Here, she began to understand the deep injustices experienced by individuals trying to navigate complex, and sometimes fundamentally broken systems in the pursuit of justice, safety or liberty; and on the other hand – she saw firsthand the power of institutions, laws and processes in holding to account one of the most successful multi-national corporations operating at a global level. Law school became an inevitable part of her journey to explore these issues more deeply.

Before beginning her law degree, she spent several months working on rural community development projects in East Africa- some of whom she’d conducted research with in 2005, where national conversations were ripening around constitutional reform in Kenya following post-election violence, and in Uganda around the International Criminal Court and the case against Joseph Kony and the LRA for war crimes and crimes against humanity for conflict in northern Uganda. These experiences and her work in Kenya in 2010 when the country was in the midst of a constitutional referendum played a pivotal role in Brown’s personal shift towards international law and development. She deeply appreciated that she had more to learn as a young professional in these vibrant environments where legal reforms were taking center stage as the foundational framework to facilitate developmental changes at both the national and regional levels.

Brown has since worked with a myriad of institutions including the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia on the hybrid UN tribunal to prosecute leaders of the Khmer Rouge, and the International Law Institute - African Centre for Legal Excellence in Kampala, Uganda on a myriad of capacity building initiatives for private and public sector legal and policy actors. For several years beginning first in 2010, she worked with Equality Now’s Africa Office based in Nairobi, Kenya, on their Justice for Girls projects in the African region on issues related to sexual and gender-based violence via strategic litigation, advocacy for legal and policy reforms, capacity building initiatives, and legal research. She also supported the Solidarity of African Women’s Rights Coalition’s initiatives towards ratification and implementation of the Maputo Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa and other international human rights instruments. Countries of focus included Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Sudan, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Ethiopia.

Before joining the Obama Foundation Scholars Program, Brown applied her legal acumen while working with the International Development Law Organization’s Kenya Country Office, where she managed the development of programmatic interventions towards implementation of the 2010 Constitution of Kenya and progress was made on issues relating to judicial transformation, legal aid, gender equality, and commercial justice.

Brown has more than 14 years of professional experience working with governments, regional mechanisms, academia, communities, and development partners to fight for social justice. Her focus on both legal and policy-based methods is emblematic of her approach to systemic injustices, and she “deeply [appreciates] that the rule of law and sound public policy serve as an enabling blueprint for development.”

Brown appreciates the Obama Foundation Scholars Program’s opportunity for her to learn the best practices and intricacies of public policy around individuals who bring innovative techniques and perspectives. After the program, Brown will scale up her advocacy in order to connect with other individuals who also feel driven to service in the mission of equality.

Brown is from Greenville, South Carolina, and holds a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law (with a concentration in International Law), and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Fordham University.

“I look forward to joining the Harris School [of Public Policy] and learning from such highly esteemed faculty and its robust curriculum. Further, because the Obama Foundation is curating such an inspiring network of individuals for its various programs, all of whom are doing amazing things, I am particularly excited to participate in the targeted leadership engagements with the Foundation.”