Tsion Gurmu (she/her/እሷ) is an Ethiopian-American attorney, futurist, writer, and researcher on migration, with special focus on gender and sexuality. Tsion is the first Legal Director of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI), the first national immigrant rights organization for people of African descent representing the nearly 10 million Black immigrants living in the United States. Tsion is also the Founder and Director of the Queer Black immigrant project (QBip), a Black radical lawyering initiative that aims to create a systemic response to meet the legal and social needs of LGBTQIA+ Black migrants while elevating narratives that illuminate the global injustices of state-sponsored homophobia and anti-Black racism. Tsion is a trusted advisor and board member to many organizations and initiatives, including the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) Board of Directors and the American Bar Association (ABA) Commission on Immigration. Tsion has advised the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism on racial discrimination and emerging digital technologies; she advocated for and presented at the first thematic hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on the intersection of structural racism and migration, as well as the first thematic hearing before the IACHR on racism, climate change, and human mobility. Tsion has received recognition for her work at the intersection of international law, immigration, and racial justice by Preet Bharara and CAFÉ 100, change-makers taking on the most pressing global issues. She was also selected as a 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 Law & Policy honoree, 2019 OkayAfrica Top 100 Women honoree, 2019 NYU Law OUTLaw Alumna of the Year, 2020 NYU Law LACA Under 40 Rising Stars, 2021 NYU Law Women of Color Collective Alumna of the Year, 2022 ABA Top 40 Young Lawyers on the Rise honoree, 2023 New York City Bar Association Annual Legal Services Award honoree.
- New York
- New York State Office of Court Administration
- ID Number: 5608039
-
- New York University School of Law
- J.D.
- RESEARCH INTERESTS Refugee and asylum law; immigration law; labor migration; international human rights law; economic, cultural, and social rights; trauma, psychology, and the law; interdisciplinary collaboration
- Honors: Kim Barry Graduation Prize-awarded to a graduate who exhibits academic excellence in international human rights work Dean Scholarship-tuition scholarship awarded to students based upon academic merit NYU President Service Award-awarded to a student who had an extraordinary and positive impact on the University International Law and Human Rights Fellowship-highly selective specialized training program in international law
- Activities: Review of Law and Social Change, Student-Practitioner Partnerships Editor Rose Sheinberg Committee, Steering Committee Member Law Students for Human Rights, Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) Liaison
-
- University of Chicago
- B.A. | Political Science and History, with a minor in Human Rights
- Senior Thesis: Student Activism and the Transnational Black Liberation Movement: A Comparative Study of Black Student Movements in the United States and South Africa – awarded Honors Study Abroad: University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, June 2009
- Honors: Perry Herst Prize- awarded to a graduate who has combined academic excellence with social responsibility Howell Murray Alumni Association Award-awarded to two graduates for their contributions to the University Student Marshal Honor- awarded to students for academic excellence and contributions to the campus and local community College Outstanding New Leader Award-awarded to two students for exemplary contributions to student life Maroon Key Society-honorary society of advisors
-
