Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice
New York, NY
Aizhan Kurmanalieva has been awarded the Judge Irving K. Kaufman Fellowship to undertake a year of public interest work with the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice. At the Vance Center, she will contribute to advancing human rights, strengthening the rule of law and democratic governance, and expanding access to justice through litigation support, advocacy, capacity building, and engagement with international and regional human rights mechanisms.
At Harvard Law School, Aizhan served as a Research Assistant with the Program on International Law and Armed Conflict, an Article Editor of the Harvard International Law Journal, the LL.M. Representative to the Coalition of International Students and Global Affairs, and a Student Attorney at the Transactional Law Clinics.
Prior to Harvard, Aizhan worked as a Legal Consultant at the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law in Kyrgyzstan, where she provided legal assistance to civil society organizations, monitored and analyzed legislative initiatives affecting civic space, democracy, and human rights, and contributed to advocacy efforts against discriminatory and restrictive legislation affecting the nonprofit sector. She obtained her LL.B. degree (summa cum laude) from the American University of Central Asia, graduating at the top of her class.