Divya D. Khosla
CEO, SDK Foundation | Co-Founder & President of the Board, Artistic Freedom Initiative | Former U.S Diplomat, White House National Security Council Director
Divya D. Khosla served as a U.S. Diplomat for nearly two decades, leading foreign policy processes and multilateral negotiations on
humanitarian crises, human rights, war crimes and atrocities, energy policy, and countering violent extremism. She was the Director for
Global Development and Human Rights at the White House (2021-23), Chief of the Energy and Climate and International Organizations teams, and served on the U.S. Delegations to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva (2014-16) and to the UN Security Council in NY (2011). She was a liaison to USAID and U.S. military commands and taught multiple courses across the US Government.
Divya currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the SDK Foundation focused on supporting and catalyzing organizations and social ventures dedicated to safeguarding human rights, artistic and journalistic freedom, and democratic institutional integrity, as well as enhancing women and girls’ health and access to justice. She is the Co-Founder and Board Chair for the Artistic Freedom Initiative (NY) and its sister organization, Initiative pour la Liberte Artistique (Geneva) respectively–organizations that safeguard artists at risk of persecution and censorship through pro bono legal assistance and resettlement services, as well as through global policy negotiations and strategic litigation in multilateral fora.
Divya holds degrees from Middlebury College, London School of Economics, and Columbia University, and professional certification from Harvard, MIT, Oxford, and Salzburg Law School. She currently resides in Geneva, Switzerland with her husband and two kids.
