Praveen Fernandes joined ACS in 2006 and currently serves as the Director of Programs for National Security, Technology, Labor and the Environment. In this capacity, he focuses on: national security; technology; labor; separation of powers and federalism; environmental law and regulation; and LGBT issues. In addition, Praveen administers the Richard D. Cudahy Writing Competition on Regulatory and Administrative Law.
Before joining ACS, Praveen counseled clients at Patton Boggs LLP on regulatory, legislative, and public policy matters with a focus on health care and Food and Drug Administration issues. Prior to his time at Patton Boggs, Praveen served as a lobbyist and legislative lawyer for the Human Rights Campaign, where he worked on judicial nominations, relationship recognition, appropriations, and HIV/AIDS issues. He also practiced food and drug law in the Washington, D.C. office of Ropes & Gray LLP. Praveen's additional policy experience includes stints on the President’s Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments and the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources under Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).
Praveen graduated with honors from Brown University with a Bachelor of Arts in biomedical ethics in 1994, the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) School of Law with a J.D. in 1998 and the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) School of Public Health with a Master of Public Health in 1999. The National LGBT Bar Association also named Praveen to its 2010 “Top 40 under 40” list, which recognizes LGBT lawyers under the age of 40 who have distinguished themselves through their work for LGBT equality.