Déodonné Bhattarai is the Reproductive Justice Fellow at the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF), a national health policy organization dedicated to strengthening policies, programs, and research to improve the health and well-being of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.
Before joining APIAHF, Déodonné worked as a clinical assistant, providing healthcare to and advocating on behalf of low-income women and families. While in graduate school she founded and served as co-chair of the Northeastern chapter of LSRJ, and helped to establish a vibrant Health Law Society. She served on the board of the Concord Feminist Health Center in Concord, NH, and became the first law student coordinator of a graduate student medical-legal partnership program.
Déodonné was a Human Rights Fellow at the National Center on Homelessness and Poverty and at the Human Rights Law Network Reproductive Rights Unit in New Delhi, India. In India, Déodonné conducted on-site factual investigations and drafted public interest litigation petitions on behalf of tribal populations suffering from forced sterilizations and egregious health disparities. Déodonné served as a legal intern at Prisoners’ Legal Services in Boston, MA, and at the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office.
Déodonné holds a B.A. in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic, received her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law, and her M.P.H. from Tufts University School of Medicine. Déodonné is a two-time recipient of Northeastern’s Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy Human Rights Fellowship.