Binta Brown

Binta Niambi Brown is a former partner in a large global law firm who has been involved in various political causes.

Career

Brown has represented corporate clients in connection with over $66.5 billion of merger and acquisition transactions (including the then-largest oil and gas merger in US history), public and private debt and equity offerings, and secured debt financings, and has advised general counsel and senior management officials of Fortune 1000 companies with respect to corporate governance matters and special situations. Also a startup advisor and mentor, Fortune magazine listed her on its list of "40 under 40 hottest rising stars", and the World Economic Forum honored her as a "Young Global Leader" in 2012. She was also named as one of the 2011 top "40 Under 40" professionals in Crain's New York Business, and the National Organization for Women recognized her as a "Woman of Power and Influence" in June 2011.

She was an informal national security advisor to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, where she focused in particular on human rights and international institutions. In 2006, she served on Governor Eliot Spitzer's transition team as a member of his Transportation Policy Advisory Committee. In 2010, Binta served on Governor Andrew Cuomo's transition team as a member of his Transportation Policy Advisory Committee.

A Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government (where she is researching The Intersection of business and human rights), Binta is a member of the Harvard Women's Leadership Board, the Council on Foreign Relations and is a Truman National Security Fellow. She is a Trustee of Barnard College, Columbia University, a Trustee of each of the New York City Parks Foundation and the American Theatre Wing (and Tony Awards Voter), and is a member of the Board of Directors of Human Rights First.

Pro bono practice

Her pro bono practice has included advocating on behalf of women and girls, assisting with democratic institution-building and rule-of-law reforms, and engaging in other human rights matters throughout the world. In 2005, the U.S. Army and the Fifth Division of the Iraqi Army honored Binta for her pro bono support of a military operation that resulted in securing emergency medical care in the U.S. for a young Iraqi civilian.

Personal life

For pleasure, Brown plays the electric bass (in New York City area bands), piano and banjo, and is an avid photographer. A frequent half-marathoner, Binta also enjoys cycling, practicing tae kwon do and spending time with her chocolate Labrador, Ms. Rosa Parks.

Quotes and speeches

"I do not have all of the answers, but what I know is this – a society devoid of love, devoid of compassion, will always be a society devoid of justice. We would be wise to remember love of neighbor, above all else." (Huffington Post, July 14, 2013)

"...In a world that I believe is requiring us to move away from models of zero-sum, non-productive, jarring, destructive competition, towards collaboration and cooperation, we have no choice to help our sisters get to where they are capable of going. One thing I know with certainty? There is space, indeed there is the need, for multiple women at every table – be it in the kitchen, or the boardroom. Today, we know better than to subscribe to the obvious fallacy of scarcity, that might have once caused us to bitterly compete against one another – thinking there was space for only one woman to succeed." (Womensphere Emerging Leaders Summit, January 17, 2013)

External links

• "Lessons From a Race Not Run", Huffington Post article, 11/04/2012.
• "April 4, 1968: Honoring the Death of Martin Luther King, Jr., 45 Years Later", Huffington Post, 04/04/2013.
• "Lessons: Boston and the Human Spirit", Huffington Post, 04/19/2013.
• "Black lawyer makes Fortune’s “40 under 40″ list", On Being a Black Lawyer, November 12, 2012.