Brigitte Cazalis Collins

director, Friends of Maiti Nepal

Brigitte Cazalis-Collins founded the Friends of Maiti Nepal as the official representative of Maiti Nepal in the United States in 2001. She and her husband, Joseph H. Collins, have lived and worked in Nepal intermittently for more than twenty years. In 2001, Cazalis-Colins devoted her efforts to the struggle against human trafficking, increasing awareness of sex trafficking, and raising funds for Maiti Nepal. She has also directed and implemented major outreach projects assisting refugees and women both in the U.S. and in Nepal. In the U.S. she was a member of the founding board of the Tibetan Resettlement Project, which provided sponsors, housing, employment and counseling to Tibetan families who immigrated to the U.S. under the Immigration Act of 1992.