As the Senior Director, Global Humanitarian Protection, Eleanor Acer oversees Human Rights First’s research and advocacy on issues relating to refugee protection, asylum, and migrants’ rights. Eleanor advocates, speaks and writes regularly on issues relating to the human rights of refugees and migrants, including legal representation, detention, U.S. asylum law and policy, U.S. global refugee protection and resettlement policies, and protection from xenophobic and bias-motivated violence. She works closely with Human Rights First’s pro bono legal representation team, conducts field research, has authored numerous reports and articles, and has testified before the U.S. Congress.

Eleanor was awarded the Louis J. Lefkowitz Award for Public Service by Fordham University School of Law in 2007. She was selected by the American Bar Association to serve on its Commission on Immigration, and serves on the Advisory Board of the International Detention Coalition. She was also vice chair of the Refugee Council USA from 2006 to 2008. She has taught classes on refugee protection and migrants rights as an adjunct professor at the New School’s Graduate Program in International Affairs.

Before coming to Human Rights First, Eleanor was an associate handling federal litigation at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP. She has coordinated mentoring programs and has served on the International Human Rights Committee and Immigration Committee of the Association of the Bar of New York, as well as the Board of Advisors to the Crowley Program in International Human Rights at Fordham University School of Law. Eleanor received her J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and her B.A. in History from Brown University.

As Director of Research & Analysis for Refugee Protection, Christina Asencio advocates for the U.S. government to bring immigration laws, policies, and practices in line with international refugee and human rights law.

Most recently, Christina was an attorney with the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project in Arizona where she represented detained asylum-seekers in their immigration removal proceedings. Prior to that, Christina spent a decade working in refugee protection in the Americas, Middle East, and Southeast Asia with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and various NGOs.

Christina received her J.D. from Boston University School of Law and received her B.A. cum laude in Political Science and International Studies with a minor in Foreign Languages from the University of Miami. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese. She is licensed to practice law in Florida, New York, and Massachusetts.

As a Program Associate for the Refugee Representation Team, Lilia Brooker works closely with the Program Manager on overseeing programmatic operations and spearheading projects that help support the team.

Prior to her role at Human Rights First, she founded an EdTech company that taught debate and public speaking to children during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as collaborated with the country’s leading environmental lawyers during her internship at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School.

Lilia received her BA in Human Rights with a specialization in Public Health from Columbia University. Also during her undergraduate years, she completed a rigorous program in Copenhagen, Denmark, focusing on International Humanitarian Law and Armed Conflict. Lilia wrote her senior thesis on human rights abuses within the renewable energy supply chain and strategies to ensure human rights are respected in this growing industry. She is currently based in New York City.

Joseph Bustamante serves as the User Experience Designer in Human Rights First’s Innovation Lab. He is a human-centered design specialist with expertise in user research, interface, and interaction design,

Joseph was an external UX consultant for our Innovation Lab on Glimpse, its flagship artificial intelligence project that uses computer vision and natural language processing to detect violence in videos for human rights investigations. Joseph previously served as an entrepreneurial UX and Product Design consultant, supporting new initiatives and product launches at startups, software agencies, and Twilio’s SendGrid.

Joseph earned his Bachelor of Science in Informatics with a specialization in human-computer interaction from the University of California, Irvine.

Natalie Cadwalader-Schultheis is a dedicated advocate for the human rights of migrants and asylum seekers. Since law school, she has worked for the American Bar Association’s South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (ProBAR) in the Rio Grande Valley, the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees in Texas and Arizona, The Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project in Arizona, and Al Otro Lado in Southern California.

She comes to HRF with experience representing detained children and adults in removal proceedings, individuals in Remain in Mexico hearings, and children separated from their parents under the Zero Tolerance Policy in their applications for reunification. Her individual research focuses on the ways that the U.S. government employs enforced disappearance as a border management tool. Natalieis a graduate of Berkeley Law and holds a certificate in Mexican Public Law & Policy from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

As director of information technology, Peter Chan oversees the technological environment for Human Rights First.  He is responsible for designing and implementing technological strategies to provide solutions that align with the organization’s mission.

Peter earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from St. Johns University and is accredited as a Cisco Certified Network Professional.

Farida Chehata is the managing attorney of the Los Angeles office of Human Rights First where she oversees the pro bono legal representation of indigent asylum seekers.  She provides support and guidance to volunteer attorneys in law firms located in Los Angeles, California, who represent asylum seekers at all levels of the immigration system.

Before joining Human Rights First, Farida was the Director of the Immigration Practice Group at Inland Counties Legal Services (ICLS), where she oversaw direct legal representation of survivors of domestic violence and other serious crimes.  Prior to that, Farida founded the Immigrants’ Rights Center at the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Greater Los Angeles Area (CAIR-LA) office.  As Managing Attorney, she positioned CAIR-LA as a legal resource on immigration matters through varied publications, speaking events, and media interviews on issues impacting AMEMSA immigrants.

Farida has a dual degree in political science and economics from the University of California, Irvine. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Pepperdine Caruso School of Law and is admitted to practice law in California. She is fluent in Arabic.

As Special Counsel, Josh spearheads innovative impact litigation, legal initiatives, and advocacy efforts to advance international human rights, uphold democratic principles, and support defenders of human rights globally.

Josh came to Human Rights First from an international law firm where, for over 20 years, he maintained a pro bono practice focused on human rights, civil rights, and national security matters, while also engaging in criminal defense work and complex civil litigation. For example, beginning in 2004, he represented six now-released Guantanamo Bay detainees.  He was counsel to peaceful protestors who were attacked in 2017 by Turkish security agents in Washington, D.C. He also defended parties named in Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), including clients advocating for Palestinian rights and religious pluralism in India. Further, he conducted human-rights investigations in countries such as Yemen, Lebanon, and Bahrain.

Previously, Josh had served with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, working on the prosecution of war crimes and serving as a liaison to Yugoslav and Serbian officials. In the late 1990s, he did post-conflict humanitarian aid work in the Balkans.

Josh has provided commentary regarding national security, human rights, and criminal law matters to media outlets, including CNN, ABC World News Tonight, BBC World News, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, and New York Magazine. He has authored op-eds on these issues for publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and Politico. He has also presented on these topics, including at the U.S. Congress, the U.K. House of Lords, and the United Nations.

Warren is a supervising senior staff attorney at Human Rights First’s Los Angeles office. His responsibilities include helping to administer Human Rights First’s pro bono refugee representation program, mentoring pro bono attorneys, supervising Human Rights First staff and associate attorneys, and directly representing asylum seekers before the Immigration Court and USCIS Asylum Office.

Before joining Human Rights First, Warren worked for over seven years as an immigration attorney in private practice in Austin and San Antonio, Texas. He has successfully represented many asylum seekers and their families in removal proceedings before the Immigration Court, affirmative applications before the USCIS Asylum Office, and appeals before the Board of Immigration Appeals. He has also helped clients obtain immigration relief such as special immigration juvenile status, temporary protected status, U and T visas, benefits under the Violence Against Women Act, cancellation of removal, adjustment of status, naturalization, immigrant visas, and DACA. Additionally, Warren has worked on federal litigation cases involving immigration and human rights issues, including several cases that led to favorable precedent decisions.

Warren is licensed in California and Texas and is a graduate of St. Mary’s University School of Law, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. Prior to law school, Warren was a high school English teacher where he taught students who recently immigrated to the United States.

As Senior Advisor, Brian supports Human Rights First’s work with human rights activists in hostile environments.

Prior to serving as Senior Advisor, Brian directed Human Rights First’s engagement with the U.S. government and other partners to end threats and obstacles to human rights defenders.

From 2020 to 2023, he served as Senior Advisor to the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders.

Prior to joining Human Rights First, Brian spent twenty years working for U.S., Irish, and international NGOs. He led Amnesty International’s work on partnering with national NGOs in the global South. Brian has also worked as Head of Media for Amnesty International in London and in Dublin and as Director of Communications for Public Citizen in Washington, D.C.

He is the author of several books about civil rights and U.S. politics. He had early experience on Capitol Hill, serving as a legislative researcher for Senator Edward Kennedy in the mid-1980s when he contributed to what ultimately became the 1986 Anti-Apartheid Act.

In 1981 and 1982, Brian lived and worked as an English teacher and community organizer in a black township in South Africa, which was prohibited under apartheid’s racial segregation laws.

Brian earned a PhD in the transnational history of rights from the University of East Anglia, an MPhil in Government and Politics from The Open University in London, and a B.A. with honors in Political Science from the University of East Anglia.

Ethan Duncan serves as the Data Scientist in our Innovation Lab. He has expertise in cross-functional team collaboration focused on the design and implementation of data science solutions.

As a researcher at NASA, Ethan led and implemented advanced computer vision techniques for recognizing and classifying ice blocks on the Jovian moon Europa, resulting in published conference papers and presentations at multiple scientific conferences.

Ethan earned his Master of Information and Data Science (MIDS) from the University of California, Berkeley, where his work culminated in a waterpoint functionality predictor to that used machine learning to assist those in water scarce areas of the world find reliable sources of water. Ethan earned dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Astrophysics and Physics at Arizona State University.

As HR Manager, Diyerly Duque oversees all human resources processes and programs. She manages the overall recruitment and hiring process — benefits management, onboarding, payroll administration, and our internship and fellowship programs.

DJ joined Human Rights First in 2018 as a Bilingual Administrative Assistant Volunteer at the Washington, DC office, and then served as HR Assistant, HR Coordinator, and HR Generalist. In addition to currently serving as our HR Manager, DJ is the organization’s DEI Council Co-Chair.

Prior to joining Human Rights First, DJ served as a Human Development Intern at the Venezuelan National Assembly, where she was responsible for training employees in professional tools, improving work culture, and developing a citizen participation project to promote democracy and government accountability in communities.

DJ is passionate about freedom and committed to defending human rights and social justice. In 2017, she was a speaker at the HDCA Annual Conference held in Cape Town, South Africa where she presented her thesis work, based on Amarya Sen’s perspective of freedom, on emigration and its relationship to Human Development.

DJ is SHRM certificated and has earned a Management Certificate from Harvard Business School Online. Diyerly graduated cum laude from Lisandro Alvarado University of Venezuela, where she received a bachelor’s degree in human development.

Andrew Feinberg, the Equal Justice Works Legal Fellow sponsored by Latham & Watkins LLP, provides pro bono representation to asylum seekers and works to dismantle systemic barriers that prevent indigenous peoples from Central America from receiving asylum in the United States.

During law school, Andrew was a student attorney with UCLA’s Immigrant Family Legal Clinic, where he successfully represented asylum seekers and petitioners for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status. Andrew was a summer legal fellow with the UCLA Law Center for Immigration Law and Policy and worked as a legal intern with Al Otro Lado on immigrants’ rights litigation before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Andrew served as Executive Director of UCLA Law Students for Immigrant Justice and Managing Editor of the UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs.

Andrew holds a J.D. with a specialization in Public Interest Law and Policy from the UCLA School of Law, and a B.A. from Hampshire College.

As Senior Research and Policy Counsel with Refugee Protection, Rebecca supports Human Rights First’s efforts to promote the protection of refugees and reform the U.S. asylum system. 

Sara Gormley is a Program Manager supporting the operation of the Refugee Representation team.

Sara joined Human Rights First with seven years of experience in logistics and project management, most recently as a senior associate at UNICEF USA and as a volunteer with HIAS, where she worked with immigrant detainees. Previously, Sara worked for the United Nations Secretariat in New York, managing operations for the UN General Assembly meetings.

She received her B.A. in International Relations and Political Science from Northeastern University, and her MSc in International Development from the University of Edinburgh. Sara has spent many years of her professional and academic career living outside of the United States, where she studied French, Spanish, and Arabic.  She is currently based in Washington, D.C

Shala leads Project:  Afghan Legal Assistance, Human Right’s First’s nationwide coordination of legal stakeholders responding to the resettlement of at-risk Afghans by the U.S. government.  She also oversees the pro bono program that provides legal screenings and representation to Afghans eligible for asylum, Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), and other forms of humanitarian protection.

Prior to joining Human Rights First, Shala served as Director of Mercy Center’s Immigrant Services Department and as Supervising Attorney with Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of NY.  Previous to that, she was a Blossom Hill Legal Fellow with Refugee Rights Turkey in Istanbul, and worked in Greece for Greek Council for Refugees and HIAS, serving Afghan and Iranian asylum seekers.  Shala worked on a report documenting reconciliation following the genocide in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina and served in anti-poverty projects in Guatemala and Costa Rica.

Shala obtained her B.A. in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies from New York University, and her J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. She is admitted to practice law in New York and is fluent in Dari, Farsi, and Spanish.

Jenna Gilbert is Senior Director of Refugee Representation, where she oversees Human Rights First’s pro bono legal representation program, which provides indigent asylum seekers with high quality legal representation in the New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles metropolitan areas. 

She previously served as the Managing Attorney of the Los Angeles office of Human Rights First, leading the Los Angeles team, overseeing the legal representation of indigent asylum seekers in the Los Angeles area, and training and mentoring pro bono volunteer lawyers. Prior to her role as Managing Attorney, Jenna was a Staff Attorney in both the New York and Los Angeles offices of Human Rights First. 

Before joining Human Rights First, Jenna was an associate attorney at an immigration law firm in Los Angeles, CA, where she managed a large caseload of defensive and affirmative immigration cases. Jenna specialized in removal defense, and frequently appeared in the Los Angeles Immigration Court representing clients with various forms of relief, including asylum, cancellation of removal, adjustment of status, NACARA, and criminal waivers. She also successfully appealed cases before the Board of Immigration Appeals and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Prior to that, Jenna received a public interest fellowship to work for Asylum Access Ecuador, where she provided legal services for refugees and led a prison advocacy project in an effort to ensure that detained migrants were guaranteed protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol. Jenna litigated and presented oral arguments before Ecuador’s highest court in a case involving Ecuador’s unlawful imprisonment and denial of reparations to a Guinean refugee.

Jenna has a dual degree in international relations and Spanish language and literature from the University of San Diego. She received her Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and is admitted to practice law in California. She is a frequent speaker on immigration-related topics affecting asylum seekers and is fluent in Spanish.

As Senior Counsel of Refugee Advocacy, Yannick supports Human Rights First’s congressional and administrative advocacy to protect the rights of refugees and ensure the United States commits to refugee protection, including access to asylum protections and resettlement, in the United States and abroad.

Most recently, Yannick worked in Congress where he served as Legislative Director to Representative Summer Lee and as Legislative Counsel to Representative Madeleine Dean. Prior to this, he lived, researched, and promoted human rights issues across Latin America and the Caribbean with the Organization of American States, The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the United States Agency for International Development. Yannick was also a Donald M. and Susan N. Wilson Fellow with Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights where he focused on human rights advocacy in Latin America and the Caribbean. Yannick’s work, which focuses on the intersection of migration, race, democracy, and law, has been presented before the American Society for International Law and the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration.

Yannick has received The Institute of Caribbean Studies 30 Under 30 Caribbean American Emerging Leaders/Change Makers Award and the Lawyer of Color’s Top Capitol Hill Staffers Award Yannick earned a J.D. from Howard University School of Law and a B.A. with Honors in Latin American Literature and Culture from Valdosta State University. Yannick is fluent in Spanish.

As Operations Manager, Miranda maintains and enhances organizational systems at Human Rights First. She supports the various teams in all logistical aspects of events and programs, from in-person and virtual fundraising activities to meetings and annual awards celebrations. 

Miranda comes to Human Rights First with years of experience in both non-profit and corporate organizations.  She earned a BS degree in psychology from Morgan State University and a JD from the University of Maryland. She serves as co-founder of The Light Community Service Ministry and actively volunteers with many local service organizations in her community. 

Susan Hendrickson is a nationally recognized lawyer, human rights advocate, and expert on emerging technology. As Human Rights First’s President and CEO, she is charged with leveraging her extensive global expertise at the intersection of law, technology, business, and human rights to bolster Human Rights First’s work countering extremism, combatting authoritarianism, supporting accountability, challenging systemic injustice, addressing the use and abuse of technology, and protecting the rights of refugees. She brings decades of experience working with legal frameworks and multi-stakeholder forums to foster rights-respecting and responsible business practices and government policy. She was also instrumental in the development of the innovation lab at Human Rights First to empower the human rights movement with new technology tools.

Hendrickson joins from the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society where she was the Executive Director and a Global Technology Governance Fellow. She also was a lecturer at Harvard Law School on classes relating to human rights and technology. While at Harvard, Hendrickson’s work focused on how AI and other emerging technologies impact democracy, human rights, and societal well-being.

Hendrickson recently advised the Christchurch Call on its launch as a Foundation to continue its mission of eliminating terrorist and violent online extremism; participated in consultations with the U.S. government on AI and rights-respecting technology; and serves on the steering committees of the Laboratory for Women’s Rights Online and the Laboratory for Online Child Protection, initiatives with global reach that bring together governments, international organizations, NGOs, private platforms, researchers and key stakeholders, working to defend women’s and children’s rights online.

Prior to working at the Berkman Klein Center, Hendrickson was a partner at Arnold & Porter, where she co-headed the Technology and Life Sciences Transactions practices. In addition to serving on the Human Rights First board, Hendrickson also currently serves on the Steering Committee of the Laboratory for Women’s Rights Online, the Executive Committee of the Child Online Safety Lab, the AI Governance Advisory Board of the International Association of Privacy Professionals, the board of KID Museum, and as a senior fellow at the Datasphere Initiative.

Hendrickson was named as one of the Leading Lawyers in America for Technology Law, as one of the Top 250 Women in IP, and as the Best Lawyers’ “Technology Lawyer of the Year” in Washington, DC.  She graduated from Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Kennedy School, and was an editor at the Harvard Law Review.

Anwen Hughes helps oversee Human Rights First’s pro bono representation program for indigent asylum seekers. Anwen provides training and support to volunteers from law firms in New York and New Jersey who represent asylum seekers through our program and assists in Human Rights First’s local and national advocacy on asylum issues. She also provides information and legal services to asylum seekers in INS detention, and helps coordinate their legal representation.

Before joining Human Rights First, Anwen was a staff attorney with the Passaic County Legal Aid Society in Paterson, New Jersey, where she represented recipients of public benefits and coordinated legal services for the elderly.

She graduated summa cum laude from Yale University (1993) with a B.A. in Classics, and from Yale Law School (1998).

Jung Rae Jang is a Full Stack Developer; he is responsible for the development, testing, maintenance, and launching of Innovation Lab projects.

Prior to joining Human Rights First, Jung Rae was a software development analyst at Citi.  Before becoming a software engineer, Jung Rae worked at various non-profit organizations as a community organizer working on issues including affordable housing, immigration reform, and language access for immigrants with limited English proficiency.

His previous experiences compelled him to combine his passion for technology with the goal of fighting injustice.  He earned a B.A. at Hunter College.

Piibe Jogi is the managing attorney of the Refugee Representation team at the New York office of Human Rights First, overseeing the pro bono legal representation of indigent asylum seekers.  She mentors pro bono attorneys from New York and New Jersey law firms who represent asylum seekers at all levels of the system.

Before joining Human Rights First, Piibe was a senior staff attorney at Immigration Equality, a nonprofit organization that represents and advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) and HIV-positive immigrants.  She co-managed Immigration Equality’s pro bono asylum program, mentored pro bono attorneys, and also directly represented clients in affirmative and defensive proceedings.

Prior to joining Immigration Equality, Piibe worked for several years as a corporate attorney at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, then briefly as a solo practitioner.  She also worked pro bono for several nonprofit organizations in Westchester County, assisting undocumented immigrant survivors of domestic violence and human trafficking to gain legal status in the United States. 

Piibe has taught law courses at Tartu University in Estonia, Uppsala University in Sweden, and Seton Hall Law School’s online program.  She is the author of the textbook “Law and Ethics” (in Estonian) and several other publications.

Piibe’s degrees include an LL.B. (with the highest distinction) from Tartu University, Faculty of Law in Estonia, an M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge, England, and an LL.M. and a J.S.D. from New York University School of Law, where she was a Fulbright Scholar.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian activist, politician, and filmmaker, has been a senior advisor to Human Rights First on human rights accountability since 2020. He was arrested in Russia in April 2022 for speaking out against the Russian government’s brutality in Ukraine and at home, and he remains arbitrarily imprisoned after being convicted in a sham trial and given a 25-year prison sentence.

A longtime colleague of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, Vladimir played a key role in the passage of the original Magnitsky legislation, which imposed targeted sanctions on Russian human rights violators. Twice, in 2015 and 2017, he was poisoned and left in a coma; the attempts on his life were widely viewed as the Russian government’s retribution for his work on the Magnitsky sanctions. Since his imprisonment, governments around the world have imposed Magnitsky sanctions on his persecutors.

Vladimir is a contributing writer at the Washington Post and has continued to write op-eds from prison. He previously hosted a weekly show on Echo of Moscow radio, and has worked for the BBC, RTVi, and Kommersant. He has directed three documentary films, They Chose Freedom, Nemtsov, and My Duty to Not Stay Silent, and is the author of Reform or Revolution: The Quest for Responsible Government in the First Russian State Duma.

He has received several awards, including the Sakharov Prize for Journalism as an Act of Conscience, the Magnitsky Human Rights Award, and the Geneva Summit Courage Award. He holds an M.A. (Cantab.) in History from Cambridge. He is a Russian and British citizen and a U.S. permanent resident.

As Senior Director for Accountability, Adam Keith is responsible for Human Rights First’s work advancing human rights in U.S. foreign policy, with a focus on tools and institutions that help promote accountability for serious abuses and corruption.  He oversees our work coordinating a coalition of NGOs that use the Global Magnitsky Act and other targeted sanctions tools to pursue such accountability.   

Adam worked for ten years as a career civil servant for the U.S. Department of State, including an assignment to the National Security Council staff’s Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights directorate as director for war crimes and atrocity prevention (2013-14).  He also served as principal policy advisor to the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice; a desk officer for the African Great Lakes region and for Iraq; and a short-term political officer in Juba, South Sudan.  

After leaving the U.S. government in October 2017, Adam consulted for the Open Society Policy Center, Open Society Justice Initiative, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, and Human Rights First.  He is the co-author of the Holocaust Museum’s 2019 report, “By Any Other Name,” on the U.S. government’s policy and practice in making genocide determinations.  

Adam has a Master in Public Affairs degree from Princeton University’s public policy school and a Bachelor of Arts from Rice University.  He was a Fulbright fellow in Ghana, where he worked for the Ghana Center for Democratic Development, and he interned at the Office of the High Representative in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.  He has lived and worked in Zimbabwe and South Sudan and studied in France.  He speaks French, holds on to fragments of other languages acquired in the course of his travels, and lives in New York City.

Nadia Khalid is a Supervising Senior Staff Attorney for Special Projects in Human Rights First’s Refugee Representation program. In this role, Ms. Khalid leads a nationwide pro-se asylum clinic series, provides training and mentorship to pro bono volunteer attorneys, and facilitates advocacy and representation for Afghan arrivals.

Prior to joining Human Rights First, Ms. Khalid was the Senior Staff Attorney for Catholic Charities Dallas where she coordinated the Afghan legal response through large-scale pro-se asylum workshops in the Dallas-Fort Worth Area. In the last year, Ms. Khalid has spoken on the refugee crisis at the State Bar of Texas Annual Poverty Law Conference and on leveraging services for recent Afghan arrivals for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) Annual Convening Conference. Ms. Khalid was recently published in the State Bar of Texas’ Immigration Bulletin Journal where she wrote on Title 42 as a Covid-19 crisis or a border crisis. Additional recent publications include  “Examining the Crossover of Immigration and Family Law in Determining Special Immigrant Juvenile Status” for the UNT Dallas College of Law Accessible Law Journal and the “Evolution of the Migrant Protection Protocol Program” for the Dallas Bar Association Headnotes Newspaper. Ms. Khalid has also written about the Afghan Adjustment Act and the search for permanent residency.

Ms. Khalid has been practicing immigration for five years with a focus on refugee and asylum law. Ms. Khalid received her Bachelors in Classical Languages from Rice University and her Juris Doctorate from Southern Methodist University. Prior to attending law school, Ms. Khalid was an intern for then-First Lady Michele Obama. Ms. Khalid is admitted to practice law in Texas and is fluent in Urdu, Spanish, and conversational Arabic.

As Director of Veterans for American Ideals at Human Rights First, Gretchen leads the organization’s efforts to elevate the voices of veterans in advocating for human rights, American values, and democratic principles. With a deep commitment to ensuring that the values service members uphold are reflected in U.S. policies, she works closely with veterans, military families, and allies to advocate for the protection of human rights and the promotion of American ideals.

Prior to joining Human Rights First, Gretchen served as Deputy Director of Veterans for Smart Power at the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition (USGLC), where she helped lead advocacy efforts to promote a smart power approach that integrates diplomacy and development, alongside defense, in U.S. foreign policy. In her role at USGLC, she worked to engage veterans and other stakeholders in advocating for policies that advance American national security through international partnerships, conflict prevention, and humanitarian assistance.

Following her service in the U.S. Air Force, Gretchen attended The Ohio State University (OSU), graduating with dual bachelor’s degrees in Cultural Anthropology and Arabic. She was selected as a 2017 Tillman Scholar from Ohio State, and in 2018 presented her undergraduate research at The Migration Conference in Lisbon, Portugal on insecurities faced by Iraqi women in the migration process from displacement in Iraq to resettlement. Gretchen has contributed to numerous podcasts and public discussions on the role of veterans in policy advocacy and has moderated, presented and participated in panels at conferences such as the American Legion National Convention, Student Veterans of America, The Pat Tillman Foundation, and USGLC’s Global Impact Forum.

She was selected as a recipient of OSU’s College of Arts and Sciences “Young Alumni Achievement Award” in 2023, and was featured as the cover story for the Fall 2023 edition of the Ohio State Alumni magazine.

Charlie brings to Human Rights First a well-rounded perspective and passion for human rights, developed through her professional experience, community work, and tertiary endeavors.

Prior to joining the Human Rights First team, Charlie worked as the US Initiative Development Associate at Human Rights Watch. She is also the founder of here4HER, a global initiative fostering collaborations between women’s rights organizations through events and multimedia awareness campaigns. Charlie has also served as a volunteer with the Anti-Human Trafficking initiative at Sanctuary for Families, and at the Arab American Association where she assisted in a teen career development program for refugee communities.

Charlie studied international human rights frameworks and ethnolinguistic perspectives at the Roosevelt Institute of Public Policy at Hunter College, and is currently pursuing an MA in Mass Violence; War Crimes, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity at the CUNY Graduate Center.

She currently resides in Brooklyn- the unceded land of Lenapehoking.

Jason Long provides technical and strategic guidance to Innovation Lab projects and manages the Lab’s tech partnerships.  Jason founded and built Blue Witness, an AI tool incubated at Human Rights First’s Innovation Lab to combat police violence in the United States. 

 Jason Long is a software engineer, founder, and technology executive with a passion for social change.  He served as Chief Technology Officer at the digital product firm Sevenstar.  Born and raised in Chicago, Jason is active in organizations providing opportunities to formerly incarcerated and otherwise marginalized people.

As a Legal Services Coordinator in Human Rights First’s Los Angeles office, Andrea Martinez supports the Refugee Representation team by assisting clients and their pro bono attorneys on asylum cases. Andrea conducts screenings of potential clients, writes case assessments, and helps manage the Los Angeles office’s client database.

Andrea previously worked at an immigration non-profit as a paralegal, assisting clients with U-Visa applications. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Andrea attended UCLA where she studied Political Science and later went to receive her Master of Public Administration from CSULB.

As an Associate Attorney, Accountability, Nina Moraitou-Politzi supports Human Rights First’s efforts to hold human rights abusers and corrupt actors accountable through the imposition of targeted sanctions tools, including the Global Magnitsky sanctions program and other relevant legal authorities

Prior to joining Human Rights First, Nina was the Dale and James J. Pinto Fellow in the International Advocacy and Litigation team at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, where she worked in partnership with civil society organizations across Africa and Southeast Asia to protect human rights and civic space.

Nina earned her J.D. magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center with a certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies, graduating as a Public Interest Fellow and member of the Order of the Coif. During law school, she was granted the International Academy of Trial Lawyers Student Advocacy Award for her work representing a Syrian doctor and his family with their claim for asylum. Nina interned with EarthRights International in Washington, D.C. and Earthjustice in Anchorage, Alaska on corporate accountability cases on behalf of human rights and environmental defenders, as well as with the U.S. Department of Justice, Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, and the U.S. Department of State, Office of the Legal Adviser.

Previously, Nina worked to support refugees and asylum seekers through direct service and policy advocacy at the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants in Albany, New York, and at the British Refugee Council in London, U.K. She received received a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Edinburgh, and an M.Sc. with Distinction in Psychology from the University of St. Andrews.

As a Legal and Social Services Coordinator in Human Rights First’s Los Angeles office, Nicolas Moritz supports the Refugee Representation team by assisting clients and their pro bono attorneys on asylum cases. Nic conducts screenings of potential clients, writes case assessments, and helps manage the Los Angeles office’s client database.

Nic spent a year and a half working for a large corporate immigration law firm before joining Human Rights First.

After growing up in Los Angeles speaking both French and English, Nic attended New York University where he studied International Relations and Political Science with a focus on migration.

As the Associate Attorney in the Black Immigrant and Refugee Equity (BIRE) Project in Los Angeles, Madhavi provides provides pro bono representation of Black asylum seekers, particularly those in immigration detention and expedited removal. She is a member of the New York State bar.

Prior to joining Human Rights First in 2023, Madhavi worked at Lawyers for Human Rights in Johannesburg, South Africa as a fellow with funding from the Promise Institute of Human Rights at UCLA School of Law where she represented and assisted asylum seekers and refugees from all over the African continent, as well as assisting in strategic litigation cases.

Madhavi earned her J.D. from UCLA School of Law in 2022 where she was a member of the International Human Rights Law Clinic and co-Editor in Chief of the Indigenous People’s Journal for Law, Culture, and Resistance. Madhavi also worked as an intern for the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in London and New Delhi, Mwatana for Human Rights in Yemen, and the Danish Refugee Council in Ethiopia and Djibouti. She previously worked as a Teach for India fellow for two years in an under resourced school in Chennai, India.

Ms. Nelson is the Budgets and Grants Manager at Human Rights First.

Nelson constructs programmatic, departmental, and grant budgets, providing cost analyses, fiscal allocations, and budget preparation. She oversees the administration of restricted grants, including preparation of financial reports.

Nelson has experience in nonprofit and government accounting and holds a B.A. in Public Accounting and an MBA.

As the Senior Design and Innovation Strategist for the Innovation Lab, Isabelle Ohlson focuses on strategy, human-centered methods, user research, service design, and systems thinking.

Before joining Human Rights First, she worked for the UK’s Ministry of Justice where she helped build and lead a multidisciplinary team that used systems design and human-centered methods to improve outcomes for people in prison. She also worked on the rollout of video calling technology across the prison system so people in prison could communicate with their families during Covid-19.

Isabelle holds an MA in Service Design from the Royal College of Art, London, and a BA in Graphic Design from Kingston University, London.

As Vice President for Advocacy, Jennifer Quigley oversees Human Rights First’s efforts to advance critical human rights policy reforms in Congress and the executive branch. Jennifer also leads the organization’s advocacy work to protect the rights of refugees and ensure the United States commits to refugee protection at home and abroad, including access to asylum protections and resettlement.  Jennifer has testified before Congress and been quoted in numerous print, television, and online news sources. 

Prior to joining Human Rights First, Jennifer worked for the U.S. Campaign for Burma for nine years, including as President/Executive Director focusing on U.S. Burma policy and the promotion of human rights, refugees, and democratic change in Burma. Jennifer also previously worked with the Women’s League of Burma and its thirteen member organizations on international advocacy and capacity building of women to advocate in international fora. Jennifer received an M.A. in Intercultural Management from the School for International Training and a B.A. in International Affairs from The George Washington University.

As Systems Security Analyst, Dennis is responsible for maintaining and supporting the direct user environment for Information Technology operations at Human Rights First. He works with the IT Director to ensure that all our staff has access to a secure and stable computing environment.

Dennis has over 20 years of experience in information technology, having worked in high-profile and time-critical environments. A United States Air Force veteran, Dennis supported missions in Bosnia and the Persian Gulf.

Dennis studied Business Administration at Towson University and Communications-Computer Systems at the Air Force’s Air University. He holds various information technology certifications including MCSE, MCP, and Security+.

As a Communications Strategist for Human Rights First, Sydney works to amplify the objectives of all pillars of the organization through social media, digital content creation, and other outreach efforts.

Before joining Human Rights First, Sydney worked at a variety of nonprofits as an educator and communicator, including The Safina Center, The Rockaway Institute for Sustainability and Equity, The Audubon Society, and Girls Inc. She also worked as an editor at the American Institute of Physics and studied shorebirds in Canada with the Quebec Labrador Foundation.

Sydney recently graduated with a master’s in marine conservation and policy from Stony Brook University. She has a bachelor’s degree from Skidmore College in Environmental Studies and Sciences.

As a Communications Associate for Human Rights First, Camila Rice-Aguilar works to amplify the organization’s effort areas and objectives through social media, digital content creation, coordination of bilingual communications campaigns, and collaboration across ally coalition groups.

Prior to joining Human Rights First, Camila was a founding staff member and Program Coordinator at the Partnership for Central America (PCA). During her time there, she helped to build the organization’s communications and program strategies for collaborative, cross-sectoral, and human-centered projects to advance inclusive economic opportunities across underserved populations in Central America. Her primary responsibility was to ensure communication, alignment, organization, and coordination across PCA’s partners and stakeholders in government, civil society, and the private sector. 

In addition to her experience in communications and project coordination, Camila also has a background in legal and administrative support work, policy advocacy, and services coordination. In 2020, she worked at Freedom for Immigrants developing policy advocacy strategies and systems for human rights monitoring within immigrant detention centers and community-based alternatives to detention. In 2019, she served as a bilingual paralegal and interpreter on the Refugee Representation team at Human Rights First connecting Spanish-speaking asylum-seekers to pro-bono legal services. 

Between her upbringing in Nicaragua and the U.S., Camila developed an interest in migration, international human rights, and climate justice. Camila graduated from Brown University with a dual bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Latin American and Caribbean Studies with Honors. She also completed her thesis with Honors on the Central American Migrant Trail, which aims to tackle the root causes of migration as a means of mitigating human rights abuses towards migrants in transit and forced displacement in the region.

Perris is a social innovation strategist and leader with expertise applying design methods, behavioral science, and advanced technology to complex social challenges. Perris joined Human Rights First to lead the Innovation Lab, which brings together technologists and product designers with human rights advocates and impacted communities to co-design force-multiplying technologies that support immigrant justice and democracy protection.  
 
Prior to Human Rights First, Perris was Head of Design at MIT’s Center for Constructive Communication, where they led interdisciplinary teams in the design of civic technologies and ‘pro-social media’ environments that address the effects of deepening societal fragmentation in the United States. In earlier work, Perris co-led a USAID and Nike foundation funded accelerator for social technology enterprises in Southeast Asia, developed a vision the future of smart parks with the City of San Francisco, and launched a pioneering civic technology initiative, Real Talk for Change, that amplifies under-heard community voices in local elections.  
 
Perris has taught human-centered design methods and storytelling workshops to social entrepreneurs and non-profit organizations all over the world, and holds a Masters in Behavioral Science from London School of Economics. 

Diana Rodriguez Flores is a senior staff attorney for Refugee Representation in our Washington, DC office, where she provides mentorship and support to pro bono attorneys who represent asylum seekers and directly represents asylum seekers living in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. She has experience with asylum, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, DACA, U Visa, NACARA, naturalization, and other immigration reliefs.

Prior to joining Human Rights First in 2022, Diana served for three years as a Staff Attorney for the Esperanza Center, Catholic Charities, in Baltimore, Maryland. At Esperanza, she represented non-detained clients before the Executive Office for Immigration Review, Board of Immigration Appeals, and affirmatively at the United States Citizenship and Naturalization Services. Because of her commitment and passion for bettering the Latino Community in Baltimore, Diana received the 2021 Community Service Award from the Latino Providers Network. She previously worked as an attorney in private practice and served in the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Puerto Rico to help victims of Hurricane Maria.

Diana received her J.D. from the Pontifical University of Puerto Rico School of Law in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and her B.A. in Forensic Psychology from the University of Puerto Rico in Ponce, Puerto Rico. She is a member of Puerto Rico and Maryland State Bars. Diana is bilingual, speaking both Spanish and English

Jenine Saleh is a staff attorney in the Washington, D.C. office of Human Rights First. She provides mentorship and support to pro bono attorneys who represent asylum seekers. She also directly represents asylum seekers living in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.

Before joining Human Rights First, she worked to combat the Afghanistan crisis by advising and training pro bono attorneys and self-petitioners regarding immigration relief for Afghans, to include the Afghan USRAP program, the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) program, Humanitarian Parole and Petitions for Alien Relatives. She previously worked for the Department of Homeland Security where she worked with victims of trafficking and assisted unaccompanied alien children regarding their eligibility for Special Immigrant Juvenile Status and asylum. Prior to joining DHS, she was the Senior Supervising Attorney at Freedom House Detroit, where she supervised, managed, and oversaw the legal department and pro bono legal services of Freedom House Detroit, a homeless shelter for victims of torture funded by the U.N. Fund for Victims of Torture. She oversaw all representation in matters involving asylum, family reunification and adjustment of status. She engaged in advocacy on refugee and immigration issues. 

From 2013 to 2018, Jenine served as Founder, Chief Executive Officer and President of an international NGO, Global Health Conscious, which donated $2.5 million in medical supplies to five different United Nations Relief and Works Agency refugee camps. Global Health Conscious also co-sponsored a multicultural health center providing clinical services to women, infants, and children in Central Illinois.

Jenine has a degree in Honors Political Science from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, and a Juris Doctorate with a concentration in immigration law and policy from the University of Chicago Law School.

As Grants Manager for Institutional Giving, Robin develops strategies to secure new grants, stewards existing relationships, maintains current foundation and government funding, and cultivates new institutional support. 
 
Robin brings more than 20 years non-profit leadership experience in donor cultivation, program development and evaluation, strategic planning, and non-profit board governance to her role. Prior to joining Human Rights First, Robin served as the Director of Operations and Grants Administration for a non-profit business incubator where she aligned the organization’s mission with strategic plans for fundraising initiatives. Robin has directed grant operations for multi-million-dollar federal demonstration projects, state funded grants, and large national voluntary healthcare foundations. 
 
As an extension of her professional career, Robin is committed to volunteering in her community. When not spending time with her family, Robin can be found swimming or listening to Spanish guitar and classical jazz. 

As Digital Director, Emma Storm (she/her) leads Human Rights First’s digital strategy across all pillars to uphold and amplify human rights domestically and internationally.

A lifelong advocate and digital specialist, Emma has worked in both the progressive movement and the arts. Most recently, Emma was the Digital Communications Manager at the Tahirih Justice Center, specializing in immigration and gender-based violence.

Prior to that, she was the Director of Marketing and Communications at Opera NexGen, Digital Marketing Manager at OPERA America, and a Marketing Consultant for Opera Philadelphia. Emma is also a founding contributor of A Modern Reveal: Songs and Stories of Women Composers.

Emma has been published in The Philadelphia Inquirer and Opera America Magazine. Her work has been featured by Capacity Interactive, Digital Marketing Consulting for the Arts, and her speaking engagements include sessions with the New York Opera Alliance and the Career Blueprints for Singers program. Emma has been trained by Arena Academy and Becker Digital Strategies. 

Emma holds a B.M. from Temple University and is based in Brooklyn, NY.

As Senior Counsel for Accountability at Human Rights First, Amanda Strayer coordinates the Targeted Human Rights and Anti-Corruption Sanctions Coalition, a group of more than 330 NGOs using the Global Magnitsky sanctions program and other legal authorities in the United States, UK, Canada, EU, and Australia to hold human rights abusers and corrupt actors accountable. In this role, she serves as the primary liaison with U.S. government personnel, assists NGOs working to produce recommendations for sanctions, and develops research and policy analysis on how these tools are used in the United States and multilaterally.  
 
Throughout her career, Amanda has engaged in advocacy on a wide range of human rights issues, including political prisoner cases, transnational repression, attacks on journalists, LGBTQI+ rights, gender-based violence, children’s rights, and more. Before joining Human Rights First, she served as the Dale and James J. Pinto Fellow at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and worked with the South African Human Rights Commission in Johannesburg and Women for Women International.   

Amanda received her juris doctor from Georgetown University Law Center and a Certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies. She has a B.A. in Foreign Affairs and a minor in French from the University of Virginia. In 2023, she received the UN Association of the National Capital Area’s Emerging Human Rights Leader Award. 

Selam Tesfai is the Legal Services Coordinator for Human Rights First’s Refugee Representation team.  As the Legal Services Coordinator in our Washington, D.C. office, Selam works closely with pro bono attorneys who represent indigent asylum seekers in their claims for protection.  She also oversees the screening, intake, and case placement for our asylum-seeking clients.

Prior to joining Human Rights First, Selam worked as a Pro Bono Coordinator for the Immigration Justice Campaign where she recruited, engaged, and retained volunteers in the Justice Campaign network and placed them with asylum volunteer opportunities. She also worked as a Faculty Advisor at Envision EMI, where she facilitated leadership skills training for middle school and high school students from across the United States.  Selam also worked as a legal assistant at a private law firm and served as an interpreter and documents translator at the Arlington Asylum Office, among other immigration agencies.

Selam received her BA in Archaeology from the University of Asmara in Eritrea and her Master’s in African Studies degree from Ohio University.  She also has an Associate’s degree in Paralegal Studies.  Selam speaks Tigrinya and Amharic fluently. 

As the Chief Operating Officer, Marc strengthens and aligns Human Rights First’s central administrative and infrastructure functions, providing leadership on a range of operational functions including human resources; performance management; diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts; office services; facilities management; and information technology. He empowers the staff to advance the organization’s objectives by ensuring Human Rights First is equipped with state-of-the-art policies and procedures.   

Marc has a diverse background in the nonprofit sector, with over 30 years of experience in trade and membership associations, advocacy organizations, and association management companies. Before his tenure at Human Rights First, he served as the Chief Operating Officer for the New York Bankers Association. Previously, Marc served in various roles with Americans for the Arts, culminating in his role as Senior Vice President of Business Operations.

Marc’s commitment to excellence is underscored by his professional achievements, including earning the Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential from the American Society of Association Executives in 2007 and the Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designation from the Convention Industry Council in 2003. He is a proud alumnus of The University of Maryland, which has played a significant role in shaping his career in the nonprofit sector.

As the Development Manager at Human Rights First, Hazal’s focus revolves around supporting the management of a dynamic portfolio of corporate donors and law firms.

She holds a B.A. in Arts and Cultural Management from Istanbul Bilgi University, graduating with high honors. Throughout her academic journey, she actively participated in the Cultural Policy and Management Research Center at Bilgi University, pursuing her passion for minority rights in Turkey. She completed her M.A. in Sociocultural Anthropology at Columbia University. Hazal’s academic pursuits center around Kurdish culture and language, ethnicity, and patterns of nation building. During her graduate studies, she extensively explored the underground Kurdish press in Turkey, analyzing its resistance and resilience in the face of an authoritarian state.

Committed to making a positive impact, she dedicated her time to various nonprofit organizations in Turkey, including Rotary International, where she spearheaded cultural development projects as the Committee Coordinator. Prior to joining Human Rights First, she contributed her expertise as a Program Assistant at the American Turkish Society (ATS). In this role, she managed a diverse portfolio of corporate donors, assisted in membership development, played a key role in New York Turkish Film Festival (NYTFF) programming and operations, and contributed to the planning of the annual gala. Her background in arts and cultural management, sociocultural anthropology, and experience in nonprofit work collectively fuel her dedication to advancing Human Rights First’s mission.