Noah Ponton is a Manager at Humanity United, where he oversees program and grantmaking strategy for the Forced Labor & Human Trafficking portfolio. He works with human rights NGOs, grassroots activists, workers, and journalists across South Asia and the Gulf to strengthen protections for migrant workers and advance labor rights, safer migration pathways, and corporate accountability in global supply chains.
He serves on the advisory board of Human Rights First and co-chairs the Democracy and Human Rights Working Group for Foreign Policy for America’s NextGen Initiative. He has been recognized as an Out Leader by New America and Out in National Security and was a 2024 fellow at National Security Action, a nonprofit advocacy organization.
Previously, Noah served in the offices of Senator Thomas Carper (DE) and Representative G. K. Butterfield (NC), where he worked on foreign policy and international development issues. He has also conducted policy research on the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) Doctrine at Liberal International and supported the Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund at the National Women’s Law Center. His writings on democracy and human rights have been published in The Hill and Inkstick Media.
He holds a master’s in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and a bachelor’s in Political Science and Peace, War, and Defense from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is an Honors Carolina Laureate.