Layli Miller-Muro (née Bashir;^[1] born March 24, 1972) is an American attorney and activist. She is the founder and former CEO of Tahirih Justice Center, a national non-profit dedicated to protecting women from human rights abuses such as rape, female genital mutilation/cutting, domestic violence, human trafficking, and forced marriage. Tahirih's holistic model for protection combines free legal services and social services case management with public policy advocacy, education, and outreach.^[2]

Miller-Muro founded the organization in 1997 following her involvement in Matter of Kasinga, a high-profile case that set national precedent and changed asylum law in the United States. Fauziya Kassindja (born 1977), who had fled Togo in fear of a forced polygamous marriage and a tribal practice known as female genital mutilation, was granted asylum in 1996 by the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals.^[3]

This decision opened the door to recognizing gender-based persecution as grounds for asylum. Using her portion of the proceeds from a book she and Kassindja co-authored about the case (Do They Hear You When You Cry? Delacorte Press, 1998), Miller-Muro established Tahirih.^[4]

Since 2001, she has led Tahirih in serving more than 25,000 women and children since 1997,^[5][6] growing the non-profit from a staff of 6 to over 70, and expanding its offices from Greater DC to Houston, Baltimore and San Francisco.^[7] In recognition of its sound management and innovative programs, under Miller-Muro's leadership, Tahirih won The Washington Post Award for Management Excellence^[8] and gained recognition for its innovative use of pro bono services in the Stanford Social Innovation Review.^[9]

Prior to joining Tahirih as executive director in 2001, Miller-Muro was an attorney at the Washington, D.C., law firm of Arnold & Porter, where she practiced international litigation. Prior to joining Arnold & Porter, Miller-Muro was an attorney-advisor at the U.S. Department of Justice, Board of Immigration Appeals.^[10]

Miller-Muro received her JD and MA in International Relations from American University and B.A. from Agnes Scott College, specializing in political science, sociology and anthropology.^[11]

Among her many awards and recognitions, Miller-Muro was named DC Young Mother of the Year in 2015 by American Mothers Inc.^[12] She was also named one of 50 powerful women religious leaders to celebrate on International Women's Day in 2014 by The Huffington Post,^[13] and, in 2013, she received an honorary doctorate from Northern Illinois University.^[14]

In 2012, she was recognized for her work at Tahirih and named one of Newsweek/The Daily Beast 's 150 Most Fearless Women in the World.^[15] In the same year, she received Diane Von Fürstenberg's People's Voice Award^[16] and made the list of Goldman Sachs' Top 100 Most Innovative Entrepreneurs.^[17] Additionally, in 2010, she was awarded the Smart CEO Brava! Women Business Achievement Award which recognizes 25 female executives who are exemplary leaders within their companies and communities at large.^[18]

Miller-Muro lives in Washington D.C., with her husband, Gil Miller-Muro, and their three children. She is an active member of the Baháʼí Faith.^[19]

• Baháʼí Faith and gender equality