Photo by Leniece Flowers

Niloufar Khonsari is a movement leader, author, interim executive, coach, and facilitator with over two decades of experience at the intersection of justice work, collective governance, and organizational transformation. Her work is rooted in a lifelong commitment to equity and care – cultivated across global movements, community organizing, and immigrant justice struggles.

Born in Iran in the aftermath of revolution, Nilou was raised between Germany and the U.S., shaped by experiences of displacement, resistance, and resilience. She has lived and worked in six countries and speaks five languages. Her leadership reflects deep learning from global leaders, undocumented organizers, and community visionaries who’ve built liberation in practice, not just theory.

In 2012, Nilou co-founded Pangea Legal Services, a nonprofit immigrant justice organization that became a nationally recognized model for collaborative governance and care-centered culture. During her decade at Pangea, she helped close immigration detention centers, train thousands of advocates, win over $50 million in legal defense funding, and lead an organization where decisions were made collectively and undocumented staff members received full health benefits, including for their parents.

Today, Nilou is the founder and Executive Director of Bala Rising, a consulting and coaching practice where she supports nonprofit leaders, foundations, and social justice groups in building participatory systems, navigating transition, and creating spaces of values-aligned clarity. She also offers interim executive leadership, specializing in moments of complexity and change.

Nilou is the author of The Future Is Collective, a forthcoming book on how to create workplace structures that reflect our values, grounded in care, equity, and shared power. Her writing has been published in Nonprofit Quarterly, Common Dreams, the San Francisco Chronicle, and more.

Nilou lives in Berkeley, California, on unceded Ohlone land, where she dances, writes, facilitates, and parents a playful young daughter who teaches her every day about freedom, play, and imagination.

Nilou Khonsari interpreting for several client speakers at Mayor’s Press Conference, San Francisco City Hall, 2016

FELLOWSHIPS, AWARDS, AND HONORS

• “Supporting Staff Wellness and Building Back Better,” Northern California Grantmakers, September 23, 2021.
  https://ncg.org/events/lsfn-signature-event-wellness-360-supporting-staff-wellness-and-building-back-better.

• “Sponsoring Afghan Refugees to the U.S. after Kabul Airport Bombing,” The Paw Print, September 27, 2021.
  https://woodsidepawprint.com/top-stories/2021/09/27/sponsoring-afghan-refugees-to-the-u-s-after-kabul-airport-bombing/.

• “Immigration under Trump,” SF Chronicle, August 28, 2019.
  https://www.ctinsider.com/politics/article/Bay-Area-political-events-Immigration-district-14378954.php.

• “Feds will not immediately revoke citizenship,” Mission Local, March 28, 2019.
  https://missionlocal.org/2019/03/feds-drop-denaturalization-charges-against-bissap-baobab-owner-trouble-still-ahead/.

• “Migrant teens are being physically blocked from applying for asylum.” VICE News, December 10, 2018. https://www.vice.com/en/article/3k9jnb/migrant-teens-are-being-physically-blocked-from-applying-for-asylum.

• “California Clinic Screens Asylum Seekers for Honesty,” Scientific American, July 16, 2018.
  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/california-clinic-screens-asylum-seekers-for-honesty/.

• “Medical Clinics That Treat Refugees Help Determine The Case For Asylum,” KCUR/NPR, July 11, 2018.
  https://www.kcur.org/2018-07-11/medical-clinics-that-treat-refugees-help-determine-the-case-for-asylum.

• “El Salvador Pressures U.S. To Reunite Migrant Families,” NPR, June 23, 2018.
  https://www.ideastream.org/news/2018-06-23/el-salvador-pressures-u-s-to-reunite-migrant-families.

• “It’s time to hire immigration lawyers.” SF Chronicle, February 2, 2017.
  https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/It-s-time-to-hire-immigration-lawyers-10904532.php.

• “This Salvadoran Mother of 3 Survived Years of Abuse – Only to End Up Trapped in a Uniquely American Nightmare.” Mother Jones, July 28, 2017.
  https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/07/this-salvadoran-mother-of-3-survived-years-of-abuse-only-to-end-up-trapped-in-a-uniquely-american-nightmare/.  

• “Trump administration targets parents who paid to smuggle relatives” June 30, 2017.
  https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/politics-government/article158953664.html.

• “Responding to immigrant needs: Activists, attorneys form hotline for reports of ICE raids.” The Daily Journal, May 8, 2017.
  https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/responding-to-immigrant-needs-activists-attorneys-form-hotline-for-reports-of-ice-raids/article_946ff174-45fe-5745-8f62-af4ac82c6505.html.

• “City seeks funds to protect immigrants from deportation.” Golden Gate Express, February 16, 2017. https://goldengatexpress.org/75688/latest/news/san-francisco-seeks-funds-to-protect-immigrants-from-deportation/.

• “San Francisco braces for possible immigration raids.” 48 Hills, February 10, 2017.
  https://48hills.org/2017/02/san-francisco-braces-for-possible-immigration-raids-training-volunteers/.

• “Niloufar Khonsari Is Winning an Unlikely Legal Battle.” Yahoo!News, February 2, 2017.
  https://news.yahoo.com/niloufar-khonsari-winning-unlikely-legal-000000715.html.

• “City Officials Clash Over Money for Immigrants’ Legal Defense.” SF Weekly, December 21, 2016.
  https://www.sfweekly.com/news/news-news/city-officials-clash-money-immigrants-legal-defense/.

• “Legal Aid Advocate.” Voices for Civil Justice, November 29, 2016.
  https://voicesforciviljustice.org/person_type/legal-aid-advocate/page/17/.

• “San Francisco Lawyers Strategize for Trump Era Legal Battles.” Mission Local, November 28, 2016.
  https://missionlocal.org/2016/11/lawyers-strategize-for-post-trump-legal-battles/.

• “Identifying a Need and Starting a Nonprofit Organization.” Texas Commission to Expand Legal Services, December 1, 2015. https://www.txcourts.gov/media/1294241/Background-Materials-for-TX-Commission-to-Expand-Legal-Services.pdf.

• “The Immigrants Excluded by Obama’s New Plan.” The New Yorker, Nov. 22, 2014.
  https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/immigrants-excluded-obama-plan

• “It’s time to hire immigration lawyers”. CT Insider, Feb. 2, 2017.
  https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/It-s-time-to-hire-immigration-lawyers-10904532.php.

• “Bloquean bus con inmigrantes” (They block a bus with immigrants). Telemundo New York, August 6, 2014. https://www.telemundo47.com/noticias/inmigracion/bloquean-bus-con-inmigrantes/86566/.

• “New Credible Fear Standard.” Immigrant Legal Resource Center, June 30, 2014.
  https://www.ilrc.org/new-credible-fear-standard. 

• “Does Homeland Security’s Tough New Screening Process Put Asylum Seekers at Risk?” The Nation, June 3, 2014. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/does-homeland-securitys-tough-new-screening-process-put-asylum-seekers-risk/.

• “The Nation and Its Peoples: Citizens, Denizens, Migrants.” Routledge, 2014.
  https://tinyurl.com/niloukhonsari

• “The Construction of the Maras: Between Politicization and Securitization.” Graduate Institute Publications, September 12, 2013. https://books.openedition.org/iheid/747?lang=en.

• Letters to the Editor. CT Insider, August 11, 2013.
  https://www.ctinsider.com/opinion/letterstoeditor/article/Letters-to-the-editor-Aug-12-4724588.php.

• “Padre de tres hijos lucha por quedarse en Estados Unidos” (Father of three children fights to stay in the United States). Huffington Post, August 6, 2013. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hombre-lucha-quedarse-estados-unidos_n_3714202.

• “ICE To Release Mother From Custody In Advance Of Rally.” The San Francisco Appeal, May 22, 2013.
  http://sfappeal.com/2013/05/ice-to-release-mother-from-custody-in-advance-of-rally/.

• “San Jose man out of immigration jail for Christmas.” The Mercury News, December 19, 2012.
  https://www.mercurynews.com/2012/12/19/san-jose-man-out-of-immigration-jail-for-christmas/.