Shiwali Patel, Esq.

Shiwali is a nationally recognized expert on Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) and leads policy development and advocacy addressing gender-based harassment in schools for the National Women's Law Center, where she also works to strengthen civil rights protections for LGBTQI+ students. Previously, she was at the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, where she worked on civil rights policy and legal guidance interpreting Title IX’s anti-discrimination protections, including schools’ responsibilities in responding to sexual harassment, protections for transgender students, and the rights of girls of color. Before joining OCR, Shiwali was an Administrative Judge and investigator at the U.S. Department of Energy, a Special Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Columbia in the Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Unit, a judicial law clerk in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, and a community educator at the D.C. Rape Crisis Center. She has authored Fulfilling Title IX's Promise Through the SAFER Act (103 B.U. L. Rev. Online 25 (2023), and co-authored A Sweep As Broad As Its Promise: 50 Years Later, We Must Amend Title IX to End Sex-Based Harassment in Schools (83 La. L. Rev. (2023)), and has published several op-eds, including The Midlife Crisis of IX (The Hill), Even in a Crisis, Trump and DeVos Are Determined to Fail Students (Newsweek), Schools Adjusting to Remote Learning Are Leaving Survivors of Sexual Violence Behind (The Hill), Women and Girls of Color Need Justice Too (Rewire News), and more. Shiwali has been featured on National Public Radio, ESPN, Vice News, and in the New York Times, USA Today, Boston Globe, LA Times and many other local and national outlets. She been a TEDx speaker, and has also addressed gender equity in education before key national audiences throughout the U.S. Shiwali Patel holds a Juris Doctorate with honors from American University Washington College of Law, and Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from Boston University with a major in international relations and a minor in Women's Studies.