Darlene Lynch

She is a distinguished lawyer and public policy expert with over 25 years of experience in social justice and economic empowerment at the state, federal, and international levels. Before joining Georgia Appleseed, she was the head of external relations for the Center for Victims of Torture Georgia, where she spearheaded advocacy efforts to expand access to education, employment, and health care for Georgia refugees and immigrants, including by leading the award-winning Business & Immigrant for Georgia (BIG) Partnership and other statewide coalitions.  

Her career includes leading the U.N. advocacy office for the global nonprofit, ECPAT International, in Geneva, Switzerland, where she focused on access to justice for child survivors of human trafficking. She previously worked to advance children’s rights across the State of Georgia, including as staff attorney at Emory’s Barton Child Law and Policy Center.  She has taught law and advocacy at Emory, Harvard, and Boston University law schools and began her career as a prosecutor and trial attorney.

In addition to her professional roles, Darlene is deeply committed to community service. She is a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for foster youth, provides pro bono legal services to immigrant victims of violence, and served as member of Georgia’s Statewide Human Trafficking Task Force. Darlene holds a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.