Monica Modi Khant is the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender Based
Violence (API-GBV). As an experienced trainer and national speaker, she shares her
expertise on gender-based violence, immigration law, and the intersection of immigrant
rights, human trafficking, domestic violence, sexual assault, and asylum. With over two
decades of experience in the non-profit legal community, she is also a speaker on non-profit
leadership. Monica is passionate about impacting systemic changes at the local and
national levels, strengthen communities, and create a broader understanding to influence
culture and lives of AAPI survivors and their families.
Ms. Khant received her BA from Rutgers University in and her J.D. from New England School
of Law. Upon graduation, she was the Detention Attorney at the American Friends Service
Committee (AFSC) where she represented detained asylum seekers. In 2000, Ms. Khant
continued practicing immigration law with private immigration firms in Boston, MA. In 2005,
she was appointed as the Director of Legal Services at the International Institute of Boston
(IIB) and joined Georgia Asylum & Immigration Network (GAIN) as their first Executive
Director from 2006-2020.
Ms. Khant currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Coalition Against
Domestic Violence (GCADV) and the Advisory Board of Raksha. She is a graduate of
Leadership Atlanta Class of 2015 and the Regional Leadership Institute in 2018. Ms. Khant is
currently a fellow of the prestigious International Women’s Forum fellowship program. In
2014, she received the Public Interest Award from the South Asian Bar Association (SABA). In
2017, she was honored as Atlanta Magazine’s Women Making a Mark and has received Emory
Law School’s EPIC “Unsung Devotion to Those Most in Need” Award in 2018. Ms. Khant has
also received the Legal Legend Award from the American Constitution Society (ACS) in 2019.
