Vijay Simhan

As Director, Forced Labor & Human Trafficking, Vijay manages work that touches on issues of worker agency and safer labor migration, including initiatives addressing the well being of workers traveling from South Asia to the Gulf, forced labor in the brick sector in Nepal, and labor and sex trafficking in the United States.

Before joining HU, Vijay was Program Officer with Winrock International, where he led work on labor rights and anti-human trafficking projects in Africa, South America, and Asia. This included helping workers organize and advocate for their rights in the agricultural and textile sector as well as challenging corporate behavior as it relates to labor rights in supply chains in the tobacco and tea sectors. In addition, he served as Program Director for Winrock’s grant-making initiative that supported researchers to conduct applied research on pressing social challenges facing their communities.

Prior to Winrock, Vijay worked at the United States Institute of Peace as a Senior Specialist where he managed a portfolio of work around issues of good governance, security, and the rule of law. This included working on governance projects seeking to address the security gap that emerges in conflict and post-conflict states, creating the environment for various types of trafficking. This includes work in places like Afghanistan, Myanmar, Iraq, and Libya.