Anuradha Mittal, a native of India, is an internationally renowned expert on trade, development, human rights, democracy, and agriculture issues. She is the founder and director of a policy think tank, The Oakland Institute, that works to ensure public participation and democratic debate on the most crucial economic and social policy issues that affect peoples' lives through nonpartisan research, analysis, and advocacy. Building on the identification of human rights as the foundation of global democracy, the Oakland Institute uses the rights-based approach to reframe the public debate and build an agenda for common action.
A much sought after speaker, Mittal has given several hundred keynote addresses at colleges and universities as well as invitational events. She has appeared on television and radio shows around the world . She is the author, editor, and has contributed articles in numerous books including
America Needs Human Rights, The Future in the Balance: Essays on Globalization and Resistance, Voices From the South: Third World Speaks Out Against Genetic Engineering, Shafted: Free Trade Agreements and America's Working Poor, Views From the South: Effects of Globalization and the WTO on Third World Countries, and
10 Reasons to Abolish the IMf and World Bank.
Mittal's articles and opinion pieces have been published in widely-circulated newspapers including
The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Bangkok Post, Economic and Political Weekly, Houston Chronicle, Dollars and Sense, Adbusters, and
The Nation.
Mittal serves on boards of several non-profit organizations including ETC group, formerly known as RAFI and the Polaris Institute (USA). Prior to starting the Oakland Institute, she spent nearly a decade at Food First/ Institute for Food and Development Policy and was the co-director from 2000-2004.
