Lawyer by day, singer/songwriter and actress by night, Nishi Rajan is an Indian-American female entertainer and attorney who released her first demo CD in 2005 and whose music has been in movies and aired on national and international radio and television. Her face has graced magazine covers and her voice has been heard by millions on satellite and international networks. In the past two years, Nishi has launched 2 new singles off her upcoming studio album, Master of My Fate, and performed throughout New York, New Jersey and Washington D.C. with her  band The Nights. As an actress, Nishi has appeared in film, television and theatre and in 2012, she wrote and directed her own musical play Off-Broadway. Nishi’s song ‘Story’, licensed to an independent Japanese anime fan film, achieved success for Nishi, earning her a credit as a top-selling solo female artist on the charts of the independent digital music retailer, CdBaby. In March of 2013, she completed her first music video for ‘Story’ and is working on her second video for her single, ‘Release Me.’
 
As a lawyer, however, she is returning now to her initial calling, to effect change in human rights law. In 2008, Nishi created and launched “Leading Light Foundation”, a human rights non-profit foundation Nishi founded to help advocate changes in international human rights laws and policies on the issues of torture, abuse and discrimination. In an interview in 2011 for Washington D.C.’s Voice of America and Border Crossings, Nishi spoke briefly about her Foundation and the work she had initially attempted to accomplish on issues as diverse as the Roma in Italy, the Dalits of India and the Civil War conflict in El Salvador in the early 1980’swhich destroyed families.
 
Children and human rights work has been dear to Nishi’s heart since she began working as a lawyer in New York City in 2003. An alumna of St. John’s University of Law, Nishi has been practicing law for over 10 years with Baker, McEvoy, Morrissey &Moskovits, P.C., a large law firm that is inside counsel for American Transit Insurance Company, one of the leading property and casualty insurance carriers in New York State in the niche commercial automobile insurance market. Nishi is a Supervisor in the law firm’s motions department which handles the large volume of the insurance company’s automobile and personal injury negligence actions. Outside of her legal profession and additional careers as a singer and actress, pro bono, Nishi volunteers her time as a lawyer for causes dear to her heart. She volunteered with ECPAT-USA to help stop the illegal sex trafficking of children and women into the United States and served for 3 years on the human rights committee of the City Bar Association of New York where she worked on issues related to the torture and silencing of human rights lawyers in China and Uzbekistan.
 
Having recently completed her first music video and majority of the work on her new album, Nishi’s heart and attention have returned to her human rights endeavors. Nishi recently sent out a call seeking volunteers for her human rights non-profit and other interested individuals to serve on her Board of Directors. Nishi is seeking applications from attorneys, paralegals, writers, professors, public relations professionals, managers and seeking experienced individuals in the non-profit or legal sectors to serve on her Board. She is seeking to fill key positions within her non-profit including those of Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer and Managing Director. Nishi specifically seeks writers and researchers for Leading Light Foundation. Legal and writing backgrounds are preferred, Nishi states, but not necessary as she will train volunteers. Leading Light Foundation, Nishi explains, will research, write and publish articles on global human rights abuses and violations of international human rights laws in countries around the world in order to effect changes in the laws and policies of those countries. Articles will be published in the Leading Light Foundation’s Policy & Law Journal, on its website and in foreign policy and law journals and newspapers. Leading Light Foundation, Nishi states, is an independent organization with no affiliation with any religion or political organization.
 
In her own words, Nishi says that “to truly effect change in this world, you must first be that change and act to make a difference in the lives of those who are suffering. In the end, we are all one and the same. What happens in a remote region of Africa, could happen to us. Simply because we are fortunate and privileged enough to live in a country where our basic human rights are protected, does not mean we can close our eyes and ears to the needs and sufferings of others. The plight of the human family is one and the same. What happens to one of our sisters and brothers in the world, happens to us.”

To volunteer, interested individuals are encouraged to send a resume and cover letter to leadinglightorg@gmail.com

More information on Nishi and her work as a singer and actress are available at http://www.NishiWorld.com and she is on Facebook at http://facebook.com/nishirajan - you may contact her at nishimusic@gmail.com.