Pranita Raghavan ’02L Appointed to NEH Operations Post The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has announced the appointment of Pranita A. Raghavan as NEH’s new Assistant Chair for Planning and Operations.

By Peter Jetton
June 15, 2022

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has announced the appointment of Pranita A. Raghavan, a member of the Law Class of 2002, as NEH’s new Assistant Chair for Planning and Operations.

Created in 1965 as an independent federal agency, the NEH supports research and learning in history, literature, philosophy, and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation. At the NEH, Raghavan will oversee administrative offices including Accounting, Acquisitions, Administrative Services, Grants Management, Human Resources, and Planning and Budget.

Prior to joining NEH, Raghavan was the general counsel and chief diversity officer at the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the largest municipal funder of arts and humanities in the United States. As part of the executive team, she oversaw a wide range of agency programs and operations and led the agency’s innovative policies and programs focused on increasing diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in the cultural community.

Raghavan has over 20 years of experience in leading mission-driven organizations and providing strategic management, operational, and legal advice on a wide range of issues, including strategic planning, program evaluation, grants management, labor and employment, financial planning and accounting, governance, contracting and procurement, risk mitigation, information technology, workforce development, and equitable practices.

Prior to working for the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Raghavan spent several years in federal service as district director with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, a civil rights enforcement agency within the U.S. Department of Labor, and as a compliance attorney and mediator with the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights.

Before she entered federal service, Raghavan worked as a litigator for McCarter & English, LLP, and provided extensive pro bono representation to clients, including licensing and contract work for a cultural education nonprofit. An honors graduate of W&L Law, she served as the editor-in-chief of the Race and Ethnic Ancestry Law Journal (now The Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice).

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