Isra Bhatty, Soros Fellowship Recipient

Isra Bhatty is currently a Rhodes Scholar and DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford, where she received an MSc in evidence based social intervention with distinction last summer.  After studying economics and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago, Bhatty went on to Yale Law School, where she will continue as a second-year student in the fall.  Drawing on her family’s own experiences, Isra has organized and led efforts to promote inclusion of individuals with disabilities in the United States.

As an undergraduate, Bhatty coordinated a number of inner-city programs on the south side of Chicago and has continued to work with at-risk youth during her time in the U.K.  She has worked with the Department of Homeland Security on projects focused on countering radicalization and violent extremism. She aspires to combine her research at the University of Oxford and her legal training at Yale to address two problems faced by our criminal justice system: the dearth of research establishing the effectiveness of intervention initiatives, and the subsequent failure of policy makers to identify and implement proven programs. Bhatty and her parents are naturalized citizens.

Bhatty is married to Rashad Hussain, the US envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference.

12-15