Aparna Gupta

Director of External Relations

Aparna Gupta serves as Director of External Relations for the Straus Institute, where she implements conflict resolution programs and advances collaborations with public and private-sector entities. In her role, she works closely with organizations to utilize dispute resolution processes to address public policy challenges.  Aparna also teaches Cross-Cultural Conflict and Dispute Resolution for the Institute's degree programs and trains lawyers and professionals through Straus' Women's Negotiation Academy and Mediating the Litigated Case programs.

She received her J.D. from UCLA School of Law and was awarded an Equal Justice Works Fellowship with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York City to represent low-wage workers seeking enforcement of their labor rights. Aparna has previously worked at the American Constitution Society in Washington D.C., and most recently, she served as Assistant Director for UCLA School of Law's Public Interest Program. In her various professional roles, she has presented on a myriad of topics including mediation, negotiation,  employment-related disputes, and diversity in higher education.