Loren Khogali joined the ACLU of Michigan as Executive Director in 2021 but her ties to the civil rights organization began decades earlier as a first-year law student intern and then years later, a member of the Board of Directors.
Prior joining the staff of ACLU of Michigan, Loren was the Executive Director of the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission (MIDC), a State of Michigan commission responsible for setting minimum standards for public defense and securing funding for public defense systems statewide. Prior to joining MIDC, Loren served as an attorney for 13 years with the Federal Public Defender Office in Detroit, advocating on behalf of people charged with federal crimes and unable to afford an attorney at the trial, appellate and post-conviction stages. Loren joined the federal defender office after a clerkship with the Massachusetts Superior Court.
Loren is a member of the Board of Directors for Michigan Voices, an organization committed to ensuring full and equitable access to the democratic process by building capacity in progressive nonprofit groups that are led by and engage Black, Brown and Indigenous people. She has served for several years as a member of the Michigan State Bar Criminal Jurisprudence and Practice committee. In 2024, Loren was appointed by Governor Whitmer to the Michigan Indigent Defense Commission. She is a member of the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan and the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan.
Loren earned her Juris Doctor from Northeastern University School of Law in 2003 and her B.S. and B.A. from Western Michigan University in 1998. She is admitted to practice law in Michigan and Massachusetts.
