NWLC Staff

Uma M. Iyer (she/her) is the Chief External Affairs Officer at the National Women’s Law Center, where she sets strategy and growth for the organization’s resourcing initiatives, research portfolio, and the integrated campaigns and communications function. Since joining NWLC in 2018 as Vice President for Marketing and Communications, she has overseen the organization’s public-facing response to unprecedented assaults on women’s rights – from the overturning of Roe v Wade to the continuing reverberations of #MeToo and the impacts of Covid-19 on working women.

With over 20 years of experience in social impact and brand strategy, data-driven storytelling, grassroots advocacy, and fundraising and campaign development across for- and non-profit organizations, Uma has spent her career connecting people with product, power, and purpose. She has previously worked at organizations including Vital Voices and the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and on behalf of brands including Dove, and currently serves on the board of Shadhika, an organization that combats gender inequality in India. Uma studied Economics and Political Science at the University of Houston, and has appeared, both in first person and as a ghostwriter, in outlets from CNN to People to Teen Vogue. She currently resides with her family in Washington, D.C., at the intersection of “I used to be cool.” and “Where are my children’s pants?”