Michael Shaikh is a writer and human rights activist based in New York City. For nearly twenty years, he has worked in areas marred by political crisis and armed conflict, mostly in Asia and the Middle East. He is the author of The Last Sweet Bite: Stories and Recipes of Culinary Heritage Lost and Found, forthcoming from Crown Publishing on June 24, 2025.

Michael’s human rights career has bridged both government and nonprofits. As Deputy Director of the Mayor’s Office of Climate Environmental Justice in New York City, he focused on embedding human rights principles into the city’s climate change projects. Before joining the Mayor’s Office in 2015, Michael led the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights investigations into the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar. 

Michael was Director of Country Operations at the Center for Civilians in Conflict, overseeing its work to reduce civilian casualties in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, and Mali. Prior to that, he was a Senior Analyst at the International Crisis Group in Bangkok, reporting on political conflicts across Asia. Michael has worked for several years in Afghanistan for both Human Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group.

Between earning a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Hobart & William Smith Colleges, and a Master of Arts in International Policy and Development from the Middlebury Institute for International Affairs at Monterey, Michael lived and worked in Japan as an English teacher.  He is on the board of Adi Magazine and continues to consult for human rights organizations around the world. Raised between Cleveland and Karachi, Michael now lives in Brooklyn.