Anita P. Sharma, Esq. is the Executive Director of and a senior staff attorney at PAIR, specializing in asylum law. Anita received her LL.M in International Legal Studies from American University Law School, concentrating in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. She earned her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, graduating with distinction in the Intellectual Property and High Technology Law concentration. She received her B.A., summa cum laude, in English Literature, from Suffolk University, where she is currently an adjunct professor of English. Anita serves as co-chair of the Liaison Committee on Asylum for the New England Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and is a steering committee member of the Boston Bar Association’s (BBA) Delivery of Legal Services Section.

In 2021, Anita was selected as a Super Lawyer by Super Lawyers Magazine and, in 2020, she was selected as a member of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s Circle of Excellence Award. In 2019, she was named as a member of the Barr Foundation Fellowship program, a prestigious two-year program for civic leaders. In 2016, Anita was honored by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly for its Top Women of Law Award. From 2010-2012, she co-chaired the BBA’s newly formed Immigration Section. She was selected for the 2008-2009 BBA Public Interest Leadership Program, during which time she formed a project to increase pro bono interest in detention work. Anita received the Unsung Heroine of Massachusetts Award from the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, in 2009, and the BBA’s John G. Brooks Public Service Award in 2006 for her outstanding representation of asylum-seekers and her mentorship to hundreds of pro bono attorneys who represent PAIR clients. Before coming to PAIR, Anita worked at WARLAW, a Delhi-based NGO that focuses on women’s rights in India. Anita is fluent in Hindi. She joined PAIR in 2002.

Anita P. Sharma, Esq. is the Executive Director of and a senior staff attorney at PAIR. Anita received her LL.M in International Legal Studies from American University Law School, concentrating in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. She earned her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School, graduating with distinction in the Intellectual Property and High Technology Law concentration. She received her B.A., summa cum laude, in English Literature from Suffolk University, where she is currently an adjunct professor of English. Anita serves as co-chair of the Liaison Committee on Asylum for the New England Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) and is a steering committee member of the Boston Bar Association’s (BBA) Delivery of Legal Services Section. Anita was selected as a member of the 2019 Barr Fellowship through the Barr Foundation. In 2016, Anita was honored by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly for its Top Women of Law Award. From 2010-2012, she co-chaired the BBA’s Immigration Section, of which she is currently a steering committee member. She was selected for the 2008-2009 BBA Public Interest Leadership Program, during which time she formed a project to increase pro bono interest in detention work. Anita received the Unsung Heroine of Massachusetts Award from the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women in 2009, and the BBA’s John G. Brooks Public Service Award in 2006 for her outstanding representation of asylum-seekers and her mentorship to hundreds of pro bono attorneys who represent PAIR clients. Before coming to PAIR, Anita worked at WARLAW, a Delhi-based NGO that focuses on women’s rights in India. Anita is fluent in Hindi and Punjabi. She joined PAIR in 2002.

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