Mallika Dutt at the World Economic Forum on India 2012

Mallika Dutt leads Inter-Connected, a new initiative that uplifts the independent nature of self, community and planet to advance collective wellbeing. She brings together the power of ancient wisdom and spiritual practices with contemporary technologies and storytelling. Dutt is the founder of Breakthrough, a human rights organization dedicated to making violence against women unacceptable. Dutt served as Founder, President and CEO of Breakthrough until March 2017. Dutt has twice been named one of ''Verve's'' Top 50 most influential women and has received multiple awards in recognition of her human rights activism, including the 2016

Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship The Skoll Foundation is a private foundation based in Palo Alto, California. The foundation makes grants and investments intended to reduce global poverty. Jeffrey Skoll created the foundation in 1999. The total assets of the foundation (includi ...

. Dutt is co-founder of Sakhi for South Asian Women, a women's rights organization.

Early life and education

Dutt was born in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

, India in 1962, and grew up in Kolkata and Mirzapur. She received a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs at

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

. Dutt also received a Masters in International Affairs and South Asian Studies from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1986, and graduated with a Juris Doctor from

New York University Law School New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

in 1989. In May 2012, Dutt received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Mount Holyoke College.

Career

Breakthrough

In 2000, Dutt founded Breakthrough with Mann ke Manjeeré, an album and music video on women's rights. Launched as an experiment in using pop culture and media for social justice, Mann ke Manjeeré remained on the Indian pop charts for six weeks, going on to win the 2001 National Screen Award in India for Best Music Video. Breakthrough produced various multimedia campaigns including social change video games, ICED and America 2049, that addressed immigrant rights in the United States. Breakthrough's highly successful Bell Bajao (Ring the Bell) campaign, calling on men and boys to get engaged in the movement for women's equality, won the 2010: Silver Lion at Cannes International Advertising Film Festival. Working from centers in India and the United States, Breakthrough's mission is to build a world in which violence against women is unacceptable and all beings can thrive.

Early career and activism

Sakhi for South Asian Women

In 1989, Dutt co-founded SAKHI for South Asian Women, an organization providing community support to end violence against women of South Asian origin. SAKHI creates a safe space for education and other support services, while also engaging a broader South Asian community against domestic violence.

Norman Foundation and Hunter College

From 1992-1994, Dutt worked as a director at the Norman Foundation, a New York-based organization supporting efforts of communities to determine their own economic, environmental and social well-being.

Rutgers University Center for Women's Global Leadership

In 1994 -1996, Dutt served as the Associate Director of Rutgers University,

Center for Women's Global Leadership The Center for Women's Global Leadership, based at Rutgers University, was founded in 1989 by Charlotte Bunch, the former executive director and an internationally renowned activist for women's human rights. Executive Director Krishanti Dharmaraj ...

. In this role, Dutt directed the Center's contributions to UN World Conferences including Hearings and Tribunals at World Summit on Social Development,

International Conference on Population and Development The United Nations coordinated an International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo, Egypt, on 5–13 September 1994. Its resulting Programme of Action is the steering document for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) ...

, and World Conference on Women.

Ford Foundation

From 1996 to 2000, Dutt served as Program Officer for Human Rights at the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

in New Delhi. Dutt initiated the Foundation's work in police reform and forged partnerships among police, NGOs, and civil society groups.

Boards and committees

Dutt has served on several boards and committees, including: *Global Agenda Council on Social Media,

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

2014 *Board of Directors, Peace is Loud 2014 *Board of Advocates,

Planned Parenthood Federation of America The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reven ...

2014 *Global Agenda Council on India, World Economic Forum 2014 *Board of Directors, NEO Philanthropy 2014 *Advisory Board, Unitarian Universalist Holdeen India Fund 2013 * Board of Directors, Public Interest Projects 2012 * U.S. Programs Board,

Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is a Grant (money), grantmaking network founded and chaired by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the wo ...

2011 * Global Agenda Council on Human Rights, World Economic Forum 2011 * Regional Agenda Council on India, World Economic Forum; current focus on governance and transparency 2010 – 2011 * Advisory Board,

Games for Change Games for Change (also known as G4C) is a nonprofit organization. The organization provides support, visibility, and shared resources to individuals and organizations using serious games for social change. It also runs the G4C Student Challenge ...

2011 * Board of Directors, WITNESS: video and technology for human rights 2001 – 2011 * Member,

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

2011 * Advisory Committee,

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

Asia 2011 * Visiting Social Activist, Twink Frey, Center for the Education of Women,

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Spring 2009 * Scholar in Residence, Human Rights Program,

College of New Rochelle The College of New Rochelle (CNR) was a private Catholic college with its main campus in New Rochelle, New York, but also in Australia, England, and Germany. It was founded as the College of St. Angela by Mother Irene Gill, OSU of the Ursuline ...

, School of Arts and Sciences Spring 2002 * International Advisory Committee,

Association for Women's Rights in Development The Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID), formerly the Association for Women in Development, is an international feminist membership and movement support organization committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable developmen ...

Conference, Reinventing Globalization, Mexico 2002 * Social Action Committee, MediaRights.org 2002 * Visiting Scholar, Center for the Study of Human Rights,

2001 * Member, New Delhi Lt. Governor Committee on Public Police Relations 2000

Awards and honors

*Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, The Skoll Foundation, 2016 *21 Leaders for the 21st Century,

Women's eNews ''Women's eNews'' is a nonprofit online news service based in New York City. It was founded by the late Rita Jensen. Lori Sokol, PhD, now leads the organization, assuming the title of Executive Director since July, 2016. Women's eNews publishes inte ...

2016 *

India Abroad ''India Abroad'' is a weekly newspaper published from New York City, which focuses on Indian news meant for an Indian American, Indian diaspora and expatriate audience. The publication is known for its annual award ceremony for the "India Abroad P ...

Gopal Raju Award for Service to the Community, India Abroad 2014 *Lipman Family Prize, Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania 2014 *50 Fearless Minds Changing the World, Daily Muse, 2013 *International Humanitarian Award, Yo Dona (Spain), 2013 * Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters, Mount Holyoke College, 2012 * Distinguished Service, Diversity & Progress Award, South Asian Law Students Association of New York Law School, 2010 * Karmaveer Puraskar: National Award for Social Justice & Citizen Action, Indian Confederation of NGOs, 2009 * American Courage Award, Asian American Justice Center, 2009 * Trailblazer Award, South Asians in Media Marketing Association (SAMMA), 2008 * The Woman of Color, Woman of Courage Award, IUP Women's Studies Program, 2008 * Award for Distinguished Service, New York University School of Law BLAPA Alumni Association, 2006

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial biographyBreaking through Barriers to Equality
– Mount Holyoke College

–

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

SAJAforum on Dutt's ICED projectU.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutt, Mallika 1962 births Mount Holyoke College alumni People from Kolkata Living people Indian women activists Indian human rights activists Anti-domestic violence activists Columbia University alumni New York University School of Law alumni Journalists from West Bengal Indian American