Nighat Dad is a civil rights attorney and a leading women’s rights advocate in Pakistan. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Digital Rights Foundation, an advocacy-based organization established in 2012 to address online harassment of women. The organization has expanded its scope of work to advocate for human rights, freedom of expression, and inclusive digital governance. She is a pioneer in women’s rights activism, especially in the context of internet access and digital rights.

In 2015, she was named one of TIME’s magazine Next Generation Leaders. She received the Human Rights Tulip Award in 2016 and became a TED Global Fellow in 2017. Dad has been a board member of various national and international organizations, including, Microsoft Advisory Council on Technology and Human Rights (2019 – Present); Dangerous Speech Project Advisory Board (2016 – present); Data Active Advisory Board (2016 – Present); Amnesty International Tech and Human Rights Advisory Council (2015 – 2017). Since 2020, Dad has also served as a member of Facebook’s Oversight Board, an independent body that provides content monitoring and regulation. She also serves as Vice President of the Forum on Information and Democracy’s Board of Directors.