Blair Burns is the Director of Operations for South Asia for International Justice Mission. IJM is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local governments to ensure victim rescue, to prosecute perpetrators and to strengthen the community and civic factors that promote functioning public justice systems.

Mr. Burns previously served IJM as Director of IJM’s Field Office in Chennai, India. During his four and a half years in Chennai, Mr. Burns worked with IJM staff and local authorities to investigate and prosecute cases of slavery and to secure the rescue of more than 700 slaves.

Before joining IJM in 2004, Mr. Burns worked as an associate lawyer at Bersch, Rhodes & Butler where his practice focused on business, corporate and elder law. Mr. Burns holds a B.A. from James Madison University as well as a J.D. from Wake Forest University.

In his current role, Mr. Burns oversees all four IJM Field Offices in South Asia. He oversees the design and execution of new projects and works to coordinate the development and implementation of budgets among the four South Asia offices. Blair develops intervention strategies and advocates with local and national authorities, focusing on issues of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation of children and trafficked women. In this position, Mr. Burns frequently spends time with IJM teams in the field and also regularly represents IJM at church services, donor groups, conferences, law schools and universities across the United States. He lives in the D.C. area with his wife Christina and their two children.