Anu Bhagwati

Ms. Anu Bhagwati

Anu is the Executive Director of Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), an advocacy organization dedicated to securing equal opportunity and the freedom to serve in uniform without the threat of harassment, discrimination, intimidation or assault, and to securing exceptional health care and equal benefits for all service members, veterans, and their families.

Anu is a former Marine Corps Captain and the second woman to complete the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program instructor trainer school, earning a black belt in close combat techniques.

Under Anu’s leadership, SWAN has inspired a national movement to end military rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and domestic violence, and to eliminate all barriers to equal opportunity for servicewomen. Anu has testified before Congress, advised the White House and the United Nations, and has spoken to countless audiences on challenges faced by military women, including the Combat Exclusion policy, Military Sexual Trauma, the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, and the VA health care and benefits system. A regular contributor to the media, Anu has been featured on Piers Morgan Tonight, the CNN Situation Room, MSNBC, NBC Nightly News, NPR, the BBC, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Time and Newsweek.

Anu founded and still teaches free weekly yoga and meditation classes to veterans in New York City. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English from Yale University and a Masters of Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government, where she focused on international human rights policy. Anu is a 2010 Petra Fellow.