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Kit Bigelow is an American internationally recognized religious freedom and human rights advocate. She is based in Washington, DC.

As director of external affairs for the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the U.S. for twenty-five years, she represented the National Spiritual Assembly in the promotion and protection of human rights, including religious freedom, the advancement of the rights of women, U.S. ratification of UN human rights treaties, and the elimination of racism. She was responsible for informing the U.S. government and U.S. national news media about the persecution of the Bahá'í communities in Iran and other Muslim countries. She testified in numerous hearings and briefings before Congress on the oppression of the Bahá'ís in Iran and in Egypt. Her article, “A Campaign to Deter Genocide: The Bahá'í Experience,” was published in Genocide Watch by Yale University Press.She retired from the position in June 2010.

For eight years, she was the co-chair of the national Working Group for U.S. Ratification of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). She was actively involved in U.S. ratification of the UN Genocide Convention, the Convention Against Torture, the Convention on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention Against Racial Discrimination.

She is on the board of directors of Citizens for Global Solutions. She is also on the executive steering committee of the Women in International Law Interest Group of the American Society of International Law and has served as its co-chair. She is a member of the Women’s Foreign Policy Group and of the Women in International Security.

Ms. Bigelow received the 2014 Interfaith Bridge Builder’s Award from the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington and the 2011 National Award from the International Religious Liberty Association.

Ms. Bigelow received her degree at Smith College where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She holds an MBA in international business from Georgetown University. Before her work for the National Spiritual Assembly, she held professional positions in both the public and private sectors in financial management and economic development.