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Bama Athreya
Vice President
Dr. Bama Athreya is a Vice President at Fontheim International, LLC, where she focuses on food security, labor law, public policy and advocacy, global development, international trade and corporate social responsibility matters. Dr. Athreya is also the President of GlobalWorks Foundation, a nonprofit organization established to alleviate global poverty through projects addressing conditions related to globalization.
Prior to joining Fontheim International, LLC, Dr. Athreya was the Executive Director of the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF), an advocacy organization dedicated to labor and human rights. During her time at the organization, she directed all policy advocacy, programs and operations, media communication, and engagement with a diverse base of stakeholders. Her most notable achievements include: her appointment in September 2009 by US Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack to USDA Consultative Group on Forced and Child Labor; her Uzbekistan Child Labor Project which was a highly publicized campaign to end forced child labor in cotton production in Uzbekistan, including developing ethical alternatives to cotton produced by forced and child labor; and her Ethical Garments Project campaign.
In addition, Dr. Athreya served as Country Director for the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, AFL-CIO, in Cambodia and as an Economic and Consular Officer for the US Department of State in Indonesia.
Dr. Athreya holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of Pennsylvania and received her Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Michigan. She has also lived in Taiwan, China, and India.