Stanford Law School has appointed Shafaq Khan the new executive director of the John and Terry Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law. Khan is a veteran member of the Levin Center staff, having joined in 2019 as its director of career development. Khan brings deep experience as a public interest lawyer and advocate for underserved communities.

As executive director, Khan will oversee the Levin Center’s fellowships, community-building, and programming, with a focus on expanding employer partnerships, strengthening training opportunities, and supporting students pursuing public interest and public service careers across diverse practice settings and geographic markets.

“Shafaq brings a wealth of expertise, a clear vision, and a genuine dedication to students to this role,” said Anna Wang, associate dean for public service and public interest law. “She understands firsthand the challenges of building a career in public interest and public service law, and she brings that perspective to everything she does. Her leadership will help ensure that Stanford Law students continue to see these careers as both accessible and sustainable—and feel supported at every stage of that path.”

Khan said she is eager to build on the Levin Center’s long-standing mission of supporting students committed to public interest and public service careers.

“The Levin Center has always been about making it easier for students to choose public interest and public service law,” Khan said. “I’m excited to work with our team, students, and alumni to strengthen the training, relationships, and support systems that help make those careers not only possible, but sustainable, at a moment when that work feels especially urgent.”

As the Levin Center’s director of career development, Khan advised students interested in pursuing careers in government and nonprofit work, supporting pathways into public interest and public service law. 

She previously served as director of the Disability Advocacy Project at Brooklyn Legal Services, where she represented low-income individuals denied SSI and SSD disability benefits in administrative hearings and appeals. Earlier in her career, Khan spent five years as a senior staff attorney with Mobilization for Justice’s Mental Health Law Project, representing clients with mental illness in housing court and administrative proceedings. While there, she also led training for mental health providers, court staff, and judges, established a community-based legal clinic at the Harlem Community Justice Center housing court, and oversaw a pro bono referral program with partner law firms.

Khan earned her JD from Cardozo School of Law and her BA from Columbia University. 

She recently published her first book, Zeyna Lost and Found, an adventure novel for readers ages 8-13 that was inspired by her mother-in-law’s childhood journey from Pakistan to London in the 1970s.  

Read More About Shafaq Khan and her new book

About the John and Terry Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law

The mission of the John and Terry Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law at Stanford Law School is to advance pursuits of justice and equity by counseling, connecting, and teaching future and current public interest and public service leaders. It aims to make public service a pervasive part of every law student’s experience and ultimately help shape the values that students take into their careers. It also engages in programming and research that support development of the public interest legal community to increase access to justice.

About Stanford Law School

Stanford Law School is one of the world’s leading institutions for legal scholarship and education. Its alumni are among the most influential decision makers in law, politics, business, and high technology. Faculty members argue before the Supreme Court, testify before Congress, produce outstanding legal scholarship and empirical analysis, and contribute regularly to the nation’s press as legal and policy experts. Stanford Law School has established a model for legal education that provides rigorous interdisciplinary training, hands-on experience, global perspective and a focus on public service.