Keynote Speaker

She was appointed as the Deputy Director of the State of Connecticut, Commission on Human Rights on July 4, 2014, and serves as the second in command in the oldest governmental, civil rights agency in the nation.  Prior to her appointment, she served as a litigation Attorney within the CHRO's legal department for over twenty years.  She represents the state in the prosecution of complaints of discrimination before the CHRO's Office of Public Hearings and in state and federal court. She has argued before various Connecticut courts including appearances before the Connecticut Supreme Court, and has negotiated millions of dollars in settlements between parties.   She is a certified mediator.   She represents the CHRO in the Connecticut Safe School's Coalition and the CT Racial Profiling Working Group.  She is a member of the Commission on Racial & Ethnic Disparity in the Criminal Justice System. She was a sitting member on the legislative "Fair Housing Choice Impediments to Fair Housing" task force.  She is responsible for organizing the agency's education and outreach programs and reporting the outreach efforts to a nine member Commission.  She is a trainer for the CHRO's Business Training Institute.   She authored an article "Sweet Land of Liberty: The treatment of Muslims in CT through the Lens of the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities" which was published in 2012, by the University of Connecticut School of Law's Public Interest Law Journal.  She has sat on various panels including: "One Nation Under the Law" and "The Disparate Impact" panel at the University of CT School of Law; and the ADA panel and anti-bullying panel at the Civil Rights Conference for the U.S. Department of Justice.  She is a member of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, where she serves on the Vestry and the Diversity Working Group.  Further, she serves on the Board of Directors of the Scandinavian School of Jersey City, a non-profit organization that focuses on the Emilia Reggio approach to education and enrichment and on the Board of the National Association of Multi-Cultural Education.  She is also a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.  

  In 2017 she was named Woman of the Year by the Commission on Equity and Opportunity.  In 2015, She was recognized by the International Association of Human Rights Agencies for her work to promote civil and human rights law and equality. She was recognized by the CT Law Tribune as one of the dozen who made a difference for her work raising public awareness about civil and human rights.  Further, she was recognized by the CT Law Tribune as a "Lawyer of Color High Achiever".   She was also named as one of the Connecticut NAACP's 100 most influential black people in Connecticut. She has developed several programs to increase students' awareness about civil and human rights laws including the statewide CT Kids' Court Competition and Kid's Speak; and a documentary "Inclusion: students looking beyond the ADA".   She was an adjunct professor at Quinnipiac University in the Political Science Department for six years. 

 She received her Business degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, attended Women's Campaign School at Yale University, received her law degree from UCONN School of Law, and her Bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University. 

 Her honors include membership to the Phi Delta Phi Honor Society, the Nutmeg Volunteerism Award, The National Sojourner Truth Award for the Advancement of Women, and The HUD's Best Practices Award for development of Kids Court. 

Learn more about Attorney Sharp on the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities’ website.

Megan Torrey

CEO of the World Affairs Council of Connecticut

She oversees the development and delivery of world class programming that educates the community on global affairs. Recently, Megan implemented a nation-wide World Affairs Council series focused on global women’s health, helped pilot a leadership mission to Brazil and produced a mini-documentary on Henry Kissinger that featured several former Secretaries of State. Megan has facilitated the visits of several world leaders to the Council in Hartford. During her time at CTWAC, the Council has expanded the scope and reach of its programming by implementing new technology and communications initiatives. Ms. Torrey has two degrees in international relations and diplomacy.

Learn more about our Megan at https://ctwac.org

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT)

Junior Senator from the State of Connecticut

Senator Murphy has been a strong voice in the Senate fighting for job creation, affordable health care, education, sensible gun laws, and a forward-looking foreign policy.

As a member of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) Senator Murphy has worked to make college more affordable and ensure that our public education system works to serve all students. Senator Murphy also led a bipartisan effort to reform our mental health system, working across the aisle to craft the first comprehensive mental health bill in the Senate in decades.

Senator Murphy has laid out a forward-thinking foreign policy vision for the United States. As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, he has been an outspoken proponent of diplomacy, international human rights and the need for clear-eyed American leadership abroad.

Following the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook elementary school in 2012, Senator Murphy became one of the leading proponents of commonsense reforms to reduce gun violence. He has championed a number of bipartisan bills aimed at expanding background checks and keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.

As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murphy has fought to increase investments in Connecticut manufacturing and promote procurement of world-class national defense products made in the state. He has fought to expand American manufacturing and create jobs through his Buy American initiative, which urges the U.S. government to spend taxpayer dollars on American-made goods. Additionally, Senator Murphy has worked in partnership with local city and town leaders to rehabilitate former brownfields and factory sites so that they can be developed into new community spaces and businesses.

Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Murphy served Connecticut’s Fifth Congressional District for three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. During his time in the House, Murphy worked to improve access to housing for homeless veterans, foster job creation and advocate for affordable healthcare for all Americans. Murphy authored the Frank Melville Supportive Housing Investment Act to revitalize housing programs for people with disabilities. The bill was signed into law by the president in 2010.

Himaja Nagireddy

11th Youth Observer to the United Nations

Himaja Nagireddy, from Acton, MA, is a proud daughter of South Indian immigrants. As the 11th Youth Observer to the UN, she serves as the highest-ranking youth representative to the UN from the US, elevating youth voices in global policy dialogue around international issues by working closely with stakeholders at the US State Department, US-UN Mission, UN Youth Envoy Office, UN Youth Delegate Program, and UN Foundation. She meets with thousands of young Americans to garner a deeper understanding of their concerns, priorities, ideas, and calls to action for the US working to advance global human rights. These data informed her authorship of the 2022 American Youth Priorities Report* and have helped her represent the interests of young people at UN conferences and forums such as the Transforming Education Summit (TES), 77th UN General Assembly (UNGA77), World Food Forum (WFF), 27th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP27), the 67th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67), 2023 UN Water Conference, and the ECOSOC Youth Forum. This year, Himaja is also representing American youth as the Head of the U.S. Delegation for the Y20 Summit, the official youth constituency of the G20 which convenes young professionals to develop policy solutions to the most pressing current global challenges.

Himaja is currently a Public Health Law Fellow at the CDC and just finished her term as a health equity research fellow at the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). She graduated with an MS (SM-80) in Environmental Epidemiology and a concentration in Infectious Disease Epidemiology from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in May 2022. As a graduate student, she was selected as a 2021 Presidential Public Service Fellow and served as Vice President of the Harvard Graduate Council, the university’s student government representing all 12 professional and graduate schools. In 2020, she graduated as an Honors Scholar from the University of Connecticut with Bachelor of Science degrees in Physiology & Neurobiology and Molecular & Cell Biology, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. 

Among her works in public service, she has served as a UNA-USA representative on the US Civil Society Working Group on Women, Peace, and Security (CSWG) at the US Institute of Peace. Himaja has also worked for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Maryland Department of Public Health, and the Massachusetts State House with Senator Jo Comerford. She uses her scholar-activism to advance health, environmental, and gender justice and equity. 

Passionate about youth civic engagement and localizing the global goals, Himaja ran for and served as the youngest member and first Indian American in history on the Select Board of her town of Acton, MA with a constituency of 25,000 residents - a position equivalent to a city councilor for her municipality. As one of the principal administrative officers, she worked with other members of the Board to set local policy and strategic direction, coordinate the activities of over 50 sub-boards and committees, hear appeals & resolve high-level administrative, policy, and public issues, and direct the Town Manager's work for overseeing staff and departments.
*2022 American Youth Priorities Report: https://unausa.org/2022-american-youth-priorities-report/”