Mallika Dutt

Mallika Dutt is the President and CEO of Breakthrough, a global human rights organization that uses the power of media, pop culture and community mobilization to inspire people to take bold action for dignity, equality and justice. Through award-winning initiatives in India and the United States, Breakthrough addresses critical global issues, including violence against women, sexuality and HIV/AIDS, racial justice, and immigrant rights.

As the President of Breakthrough, Mallika has spearheaded the use of art and culture as an essential strategy for mainstreaming the global dialogue on human rights. She has conceived and led Breakthrough’s award-winning campaigns on violence against women and immigration reform that have reached millions, and amplified the project of bringing human rights home through groundbreaking and unlikely partnerships ranging from grass-roots community organizations to the entertainment industry. Mallika has overseen Breakthrough’s evolution from a single campaign to a global leader in advancing human rights through cutting edge multimedia, gaming and pop culture tools.

Prior to founding Breakthrough, Mallika served as Program Officer for Human Rights at the Ford Foundation’s New Delhi Office where she initiated the Foundation’s work in police reform and forged unique partnerships between police, NGOs, and civil society groups. Mallika also acted as the Associate Director of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership at Rutgers University, and was at the forefront of the global movement for gaining recognition for women’s rights as human rights.

Mallika is a co-founder of SAKHI for South Asian Women and has served on several boards and committees, including WITNESS, the Human Rights Watch Women’s Rights Project and Asia Watch, The Sister Fund, Asian American Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, and the US NGO Coordinating Committee for the UN World Conference Against Racism. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and currently serves on Boards of the Open Society Institute US Programs, and Games for Change, Rights Working Group Steering Committee, and the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Human Rights.