Ariya Haghighat
Development Director

Ariya is a proud first-generation Iranian American, with family roots in Semnan and Tehran on his father’s side and Isfahan on his mother’s side. His legal background includes policy development, statutory interpretation, and constitutional and civil rights law. He specializes in mental health law and serves on the legal counsel team at the California Department of State Hospitals, the nation’s largest forensic psychiatric hospital system.

Ariya has served as a legal extern with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, as well as for the Honorable Troy L. Nunley of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California. He earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of California Davis, School of Law, where he was a member of the Civil Rights Clinic, argued before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and was selected as the Class of 2023 commencement speaker.

Originally from Southern California, Ariya earned his bachelor’s degree in Economics, Law & Society, with a minor in History, from the University of California, Riverside.

Outside of his legal work, Ariya enjoys woodworking, baking, and learning more about his beautiful cultural heritage.