As the director of Human Rights First’s Refugee Protection program, 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.

Robyn Barnard is Associate Director, Refugee Advocacy with Human Rights First. She supports Human Rights First’s efforts to promote the protection of refugees at home and abroad and to bring other U.S. immigration policies and practices into line with international refugee protection and human rights law standards, with a particular focus on ending the use of immigration detention of refugees. She also supports Human Rights First’s Refugee Representation team in its efforts to provide pro bono representation to asylum seekers at all levels of the immigration system.  Prior to this role, Robyn was Senior Staff Attorney within the Los Angeles office and an attorney in the New York office of Human Rights First.

Previously, Robyn was a staff attorney at the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at the UC Hastings School of Law in San Francisco and a CV Starr Law Lecturer at Peking University’s School of Transnational Law in Shenzhen, China. Robyn is a graduate of the University of Melbourne Law School and is admitted in New York State. Robyn serves on the board of Aldea – the People’s Justice Center.

Jim Bernfield oversees Human Rights First’s marketing and communications efforts.  His work has always focused on using data to craft emotional narratives that brand organizations, elect leaders, and change policy.

Before joining Human Rights First, he worked with a range of nonprofit, political, and commercial organizations, from the Alliance for Climate Protection to the Rockefeller Family Fund, the Los Angeles Dodgers to the last five Democratic Presidential nominees.  For Repower America, he amplified voices not typically at the center of the environmental movement in the fight against climate change. The success of his work at American Resources Network led to his creating the television documentary Rally Behind the Virginians and writing a chapter on communications strategy in Let the People Judge.  In electoral politics, Jim produced media that defeated Joe Arpaio, known as America’s worst sheriff for his disregard of immigrants’ and prisoners’ human rights.

As President of the 1661 Foundation, Jim nurtured new generations of leaders from underrepresented communities.  At the outset of his career, he helped plan and lead the Chaney-Goodman-Schwerner Memorial Coalition’s bus caravan from New York City to Philadelphia Mississippi to highlight America’s unfinished journey toward social justice.

Jim produced and directed Me To Play, a documentary feature now streaming about actors with Parkinson’s disease who put up Samuel Beckett’s Endgame.  He wrote It’s Best Not to Know, a TV miniseries based on two sisters’ experience in the Holocaust.

Jim holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Film from Columbia University’s School of the Arts.  He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Columbia College at Columbia University in the City of New York.

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.

Philip Chwee joined the Washington, D.C. office of Human Rights First as a staff attorney in August 2020. As a staff attorney in the Washington, D.C. office of Human Rights First, Philip Chwee mentors and supports pro bono attorneys who represent asylum seekers. He also represents asylum seekers living in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. 

Before joining Human Rights First, Philip Chwee was a senior associate at a boutique immigration litigation firm in New York City. He represented detained and non-detained individuals facing removal proceedings across the United States. In addition, he also headed the firm’s appellate work before the Board of Immigration Appeals and federal circuit courts. While in New York, Philip presented on the material support bar and terrorism-related inadmissibility grounds at the New York Asylum & Immigration Law Conference in 2018 and 2019. 

Philip is a native of Queens, New York, and received his JD from Fordham University School of Law. He was a staff editor of Fordham’s International Law Journal, where he published a note on comparative internet censorship laws. Philip is admitted to the New York State Bar and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He is fluent in spoken Mandarin.

As the Accountability Legal Fellow, Ashley Collins supports Human Rights First’s efforts to hold human rights abusers and corrupt actors accountable through the imposition of targeted sanctions. In this role, she provides assistance to HRF’s targeted sanctions coalition through researching, drafting, and editing sanctions recommendations that identify persons involved in serious human rights abuses and corruption; developing training and informational resources; and analyzing gaps in the use of targeted sanctions programs.

During law school, Ashley interned at Perseus Strategies, the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights, and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. In these roles, she has worked on political prisoner cases and conducted domestic and international legal research on a range of issues, including violence against human rights defenders, migration, and women’s rights. Prior to law school, Ashley was a fellow at the Brazil Office of Harvard University’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies as well as Harvard Business School’s Latin America Research Center.

Ashley received her J.D. and a Certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies from Georgetown University Law Center. She focused on human rights throughout law school, was a Public Interest Fellow, and served on the executive board of the Georgetown Journal of International Law. Ashley holds a B.A. cum laude in Social Studies, a Certificate in Latin American Studies, and a foreign language citation in Portuguese from Harvard University.

As Program Strategist for the Veterans for American Ideals (VFAI) initiative at Human Rights First, Emilee Cutright supports and advances the policy objectives of VFAI by engaging in research, policy analysis, administrative support, and targeted advocacy with veterans and refugees around the country.

Prior to joining Human Rights First, Emilee worked at the Tennessee Fair Housing Council, where she managed a caseload of over one hundred clients. There, she conducted targeted advocacy, facilitation, and mediation to eliminate housing discrimination and homelessness in the greater Nashville area.  She has also interned with the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice in San Diego, CA, where she worked as a member of the editorial staff for their Women Peacemakers initiative. During graduate school, she interned with the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Community Relations Service, the “Peacemaking” agency of the DOJ for communities in conflict.

Emilee holds a Master of Arts in Peace and Justice Studies from the Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego, where she focused on Human Rights Advocacy. She also attended the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where she graduated with highest honors with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and a minor in Psychology.

As the legal services coordinator in the Los Angeles office, Milena provides legal services to asylum seekers and their pro bono attorneys and supports the attorneys within the Los Angeles office. She is responsible for conducting screenings and intake interviews of potential clients, and assists with ongoing case management, among her other duties.

Prior to joining Human Rights First, Milena worked for the Central American Resource Center in Washington, D.C. There, she provided educational outreach about relevant COVID-19 legislation, assisted community residents in accessing social services, and developed strategies to reach hard-to-reach immigrant populations. Milena also worked for the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching & Service at Georgetown University where she led a program specific Advocacy Committee for immigrant families, supported the logistics of DC and global immersion programs for faculty and staff, and developed curricula to support social justice teaching and learning.

Milena holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Religious Studies from the University of South Florida, Tampa Bay. She also holds a Master’s degree in Conflict Resolution with a certificate in Refugee and Humanitarian Emergencies from Georgetown University, Washington, DC. She is fluent in Spanish.

As Senior Advisor, Brian supports Human Rights First’s work to contain and counteract a U.S. retreat from global leadership on human rights. Prior to his role as Senior Advisor, Brian directed Human Rights First’s engagement with the U.S. government and with other partners to end threats and obstacles to human rights defenders.

For the 20 years prior to joining Human Rights First, Brian worked for U.S., Irish and international NGOs. Most recently, Brian 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, and had early experience on the Hill, interning for Senator Edward Kennedy in the mid-80s as a legislative researcher, contributing to what ultimately became the 1986 Anti-Apartheid Act. Before that, he lived and worked as an English teacher and community organizer in a black township in South Africa in 1981-82, which was prohibited under apartheid’s racial segregation laws.

Brian has 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.

As our Individual Giving Associate, Nathan helps coordinate peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns and spearhead innovative donor recruitment initiatives such as the Emerging Leaders Group (ELG). 

Before coming to Human Rights First, he led the New Arts Initiative for the World Aral Region Charity, where he organized numerous contemporary classical symphony concerts in New York City, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia to raise awareness about ecological challenges facing western Uzbekistan. 

Nathan graduated with honors from Columbia University in 2020 and Stanford University in 2021 with a B.A. and M.A. in Latin American and Caribbean Studies, respectively. In Kenya with the Columbia University Chaplain’s office, Nathan studied interfaith cooperation.  He studied international human rights law in Spain and France, where he co-drafted a proposal to the European Commission for an online database of practical legal information for Syrian refugees. 

In his spare time, he dances with Ballet Folklórico de Revolución, a traditional Mexican ensemble that brings attention to the needs of asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

As a legal services coordinator in New York, Maya El Cheikh conducts screenings of potential clients; writes case assessments; supports pro bono and in-house attorneys; helps manage the New York office’s client database; assists in supporting advocacy efforts; and helps select, train, and supervise interns.    

As a Department of Justice (DOJ) fully-accredited representative, Maya directly represents immigrants in removal proceedings before the Department of Homeland Security and the Executive Office for Immigration Review under the supervision of our New York office’s managing attorney. She helps clients secure various immigration-related benefits, including asylum, employment authorization, family reunification, and adjustment of status. 

Prior to joining Human Rights First, Maya worked with the Victim Services Unit at the District Attorney’s office in Brooklyn. There, she assisted victims of various crimes, including domestic violence, with VAWA and U-visa petitions. 

In addition to her legal background, Maya holds a master’s degree in Special Education and Inclusion from the University of Roehampton, a master’s degree in Social Work from New York University, and a bachelor’s degree from Concordia University in Canada. Maya is a native Arabic speaker and is conversationally fluent in Spanish.

As Senior Advisor for Combatting Antisemitism, Ira Forman supports Human Rights First’s work to expose and counteract antisemitism at home and abroad in keeping with a U.S. foreign policy rooted in a strong commitment to human rights, universal values, and American ideals.

Ira was appointed the U.S. State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism (SEAS) in May 2013, serving until January 2017. From 2011-2012, He served as the Jewish Outreach Director for the Obama for America campaign. He also served for nearly 15 years as the executive director of the National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC). Today, Ira is a visiting professor and senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Jewish Civilization, where he teaches courses on confronting contemporary antisemitism, and is also is a senior fellow at Moment Magazine.

Ira received his B.A. from Harvard University and his MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

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.

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.

Rebecca received a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School in 2019. In law school, Rebecca was a student director of the Immigration Legal Services Clinic, where she represented asylum seekers and green card applicants. She was also a research coordinator for the Immigration Policy Tracking Project, which catalogues every immigration policy from January 2017 to January 2021. During law school, Rebecca interned at the Capital Area Immigrants’  Rights Coalition and the Legal Aid Society’s Criminal Appeals Bureau.

Rebecca graduated Cum Laude from Williams College, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with honors.

Reema Ghabra is the BIRE Fellow in the Los Angeles office of Human Rights First, where she provides pro bono legal representation to asylum seekers.

Before joining Human Rights First, Reema was a student attorney with the George Washington University’s Prisoner and Reentry Clinic in Washington, D.C. There, she represented incarcerated individuals facing legal barriers as a result of their criminal records. Reema interned at Corporate Accountability Lab in Chicago, Illinois, a nonprofit organization that focuses on holding corporations legally accountable for their human and environmental abuses.  Reema previously interned with Human Rights First in the Washington, D.C. office.

Reema received her Juris Doctor degree from the George Washington University Law School, where she focused on international human rights and civil rights law. She received her Bachelor of Arts in political science with honors from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Jenna Gilbert is 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 the C.V. Starr Accountability Legal Fellow, Alix Hirsh supports Human Rights First’s efforts to hold human rights abusers and corrupt actors accountable through the imposition of targeted sanctions. In this role, she provides assistance to HRF’s targeted sanctions coalition through researching, drafting, and editing sanctions recommendations that identify persons involved in serious human rights abuses and corruption; developing training and informational resources; and analyzing gaps in the use of targeted sanctions programs.

During law school, Alix interned at the Anti-Defamation League, Physicians for Human Rights, The Jacob Blaustein Institute and New York State Division of Human Rights. She also worked as a research assistant and participated in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court competition.

Alix received her J.D. from New York Law School. Prior to law school, Alix lived in Tel Aviv, Israel for five years where she earned a B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from Tel Aviv University. While in Tel Aviv, Alix worked for a non-profit consultant.

As Associate Attorney for Accountability, Gita Howard supports Human Rights First’s use of targeted sanctions to promote accountability for human rights abuses and acts of corruption around the world. In partnership with civil society organizations and pro bono attorneys in our coalition, Gita conducts trainings and assists in the development of sanctions case files, liaises with U.S. government personnel, and contributes to Human Rights First’s research, writing, and advocacy on targeted human rights and anticorruption sanctions.

During law school, Gita interned at the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs and the Tibetan Legal Association in Dharamshala, India. She also served as a legal intern and fellow at Miami Law’s Human Rights Clinic. Prior to law school, Gita worked as a research assistant and interned as a reporter.

Gita received her J.D. and graduated cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law. At Miami Law, she co-founded and served as president of Miami Law’s Human Rights Society. Gita was also published in and a member of Miami Law’s International and Comparative Law Review. Gita holds a B.A. in psychology from Scripps College. During college, she participated in a study abroad workshop at the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights.

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).

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, former opposition leader, and filmmaker, is a senior advisor for human rights accountability. In this capacity, he helps shape the organization’s efforts to hold major human rights abusers accountable via the Global Magnitsky Act.  

Vladimir is a former deputy leader of the People’s Freedom Party and was a candidate for the Russian State Duma. A longtime colleague of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, he chairs the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom. 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.

He is a contributing writer at the Washington Post, hosts 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.

As 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.

Katie serves as a grants associate at Human Rights First.

Prior to joining Human Rights First, Katie worked as a legal assistant intern for the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, a non-profit immigration law firm in Portland, Maine.  She created an extensive country condition report to support a Honduran client’s fear of returning home.

As an organizing intern for Amnesty International USA in Boston, Katie devised outreach strategies for a 600-guest Northeast Regional Conference and planned a tabling event as part of Amnesty International USA’s International Write for Rights campaign.

As assistant director of Latinx Action Group, an organization that helps students of color get involved in social justice issues that affect their communities, Katie developed great leadership, campaign management, event planning, collaboration and communications skills.

Katie received a combined B.A. in Spanish and International Affairs from Northeastern University, and an A.A. in Political Science from Southern Maine Community College. She is a member of the community college honor society, Phi Theta Kappa, and the political science honorary society, Pi Sigma Alpha. 

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 the Senior Vice President for Development, Jennifer is responsible for designing and implementing the organization’s development strategy to broaden the organization’s financial support from individuals, law firms, businesses, and institutional funders.

Before joining Human Rights First, Jennifer spent four years with Truman Center for National Policy and Truman National Security Project where she started as the Managing Director of Development. In her last two years with Truman, Jennifer was the Managing Director of Programs and External Relations where she oversaw the creation and implementation of Truman’s communications and resource development strategies as well as the overall organizational brand management. Additionally, she oversaw the training program, chapter engagement, and the organizations’ major campaigns and initiatives.

Jennifer spent eight years at PAI, a global advocate for reproductive rights. In that time, Jennifer managed the organization’s major gifts program, working closely with individuals and family foundations, and she partnered with the grants team on proposal and report development, led the annual operational planning effort for her department each year, and served as part of an internal team tasked with an organizational re-branding effort. During her tenure with PAI, Jennifer held multiple positions of increasing responsibility. Prior to her work with PAI, Jennifer spent four years at VSA arts, an international NGO focused on ensuring access to the arts for people with disabilities worldwide, where she provided key support to the Executive Office, Board of Directors, and the organization’s vast network of domestic and international affiliates.

Since 2005, Jennifer has been a member of the Junior League of Washington, serving on a variety of fundraising committees throughout her involvement. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Arts Management from Shenandoah University. A Virginia native, Jennifer loves reading and running, and lives with her husband, son, and shepherd-hound mix in Alexandria, VA.

Julia Neusner is a Research and Policy Associate Attorney with Refugee Protection at Human Rights First. Her work has focused on monitoring the impact of U.S. immigration policies on migrants and asylum seekers at the U.S. Mexico border, including tracking violent crimes against migrants in Mexico, seeking accountability for abuses by U.S. immigration officers, and promoting protection pathways for people displaced in the context of climate change. 

Julia earned a Juris Doctor and a master’s degree in International Policy from Stanford University, where she focused on migration, labor, and human security. She founded the Refugee Rights Network at Stanford Law School and coordinated monthly student trips to the U.S.-Mexico border to provide legal services to people seeking asylum. 

Julia previously taught middle and high school special education in the New York City public school system through the New York City Teaching Fellows program. She also holds a Master of Science in Education from Long Island University Brooklyn and a Bachelor of Arts in comparative literature with honors from New York University. 

Julia is admitted to the New York State Bar. She lives in Oakland, California. 

As Human Rights First’s inaugural Chief Legal Officer, Licha Nyiendo is responsible for overseeing the full spectrum of legal matters for the organization, including risk and compliance programs, advancement of high impact litigation that addresses social justice issues, and legal representation of refugees and asylum seekers.

Ms. Nyiendo previously served as the Commissioner for the New York State Division of Human Rights, the chief executive of the state agency responsible for enforcing New York’s Human Rights Law.  She oversaw all agency operations in twelve offices across the state, including investigation and prosecution of discrimination complaints, settlements, public hearings, development of proposed legislation, public awareness campaigns and community outreach events.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Nyiendo served as the Deputy Special Counsel for Public Integrity in the Office of the Governor of the State of New York.  She managed litigation matters and advanced racial justice initiatives, including review and recommendation of pardon and commutation applications by incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals.

She served for eight years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of New York, serving as Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Unit and then Deputy Chief of the Civil Rights Unit.  She was trial counsel on several federal criminal trials, including sex trafficking, forced labor, civil rights abuses committed by law enforcement officers, drug-related homicide and international narcotics conspiracies. She also conducted a weeks-long human trafficking training in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania for local law enforcement and advocacy groups. Ms. Nyiendo began her career as a litigation associate at Sidley Austin LLP.

Early in her career, Ms. Nyiendo clerked for the Honorable Theodore A. McKee, United States Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.  She also clerked for the Honorable George B. Daniels, United States District Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Ms. Nyiendo earned her B.A. from Harvard University and received her J.D. from Duke University School of Law.

As Advocacy Strategist, Ana works to protect the rights of refugees and asylum seekers and ensure the United States commits to refugee protection at home and abroad. Prior to her role as Advocacy Strategist, Ana served as the Legal Services Coordinator for the Los Angeles Refugee Representation office where she provided direct legal support and services to asylum seekers in the Los Angeles area and to asylum seekers subjected to the Migrant Protection Protocols.

Before joining Human Rights First, Ana worked with the South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project (ProBAR) in Harlingen, Texas. There, she provided legal orientations, screenings, and case management for unaccompanied immigrant children. This occurred during an unprecedented influx of unaccompanied minors at the United States’ southern border, referred to as a “humanitarian crisis” by President Obama.

Ana earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Spanish at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas, and a master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Essex in Essex, England.

Chris Purdy is the Director of Veterans for American Ideals and Outreach at Human Rights First. He first worked on the VFAI project as a volunteer and joined its staff in 2016. In his time as a volunteer, Chris worked to build relationships between veterans and their community relationships across the southeast.

Prior to working with Human Rights First and VFAI, he developed school reform programs and policy with the Superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools. Chris served as the Director of After School and Summer Programs where he worked to reform the summer education program. He also spent time as a Lead Teacher for the District of Columbia Public Schools. Chris served for eight years in the Army National Guard, deploying to Iraq and Thailand.

Chris is a member of the Truman National Security Project, Georgia Forward, and LEAD Atlanta. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from the State University of New York College at Fredonia, a Master’s of Education, Inclusive Education from Nazareth College of Rochester, and a Master’s of Public Affairs from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

As Senior Director for Government Affairs, 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 a legal services coordinator in the New York office, Lamisse provides general support to the Refugee Representation team, assisting clients and their pro bono attorneys on asylum cases. As a DOJ-accredited representative, Lamisse also provides clients with immigration legal services before the Department of Homeland Security.

Prior to joining Human Rights First, Lamisse worked for UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency, in Khartoum, Sudan. As a Senior Child Protection Assistant, she was responsible for registering, screening, and providing direct services to unaccompanied refugee children. Lamisse also worked as a legal assistant at the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA), a development finance institution. 

Lamisse holds a dual bachelor’s degree in French and International Relations from the University of California, Davis.

As a Communications Associate for Human Rights First, Sydney Randall 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, where her success at the program earned her the J.R. Schubel Fellowship for Communicating Science. She has a bachelor’s degree from Skidmore College in Environmental Studies and Sciences.

In her free time, you can find Sydney chasing her cat around her apartment in Brooklyn, throwing crooked pottery on the wheel, exploring new hiking trails, or writing.

Perris Richter, a design and operations strategist with expertise in issues of the information landscape and democracy, serves as Associate Director of Human Rights First’s Innovation Lab. 

Previously, Perris served in leadership at MIT Media Lab’s Center for Constructive Communication, which brings together practitioners in emerging technologies and social science to address the effects of deepening societal fragmentation in America. Before that, Perris was Lead Design and Innovation Strategist at Fuseproject, where she supported new initiatives and product launches with USAID, Paypal, Samsung, and the city of San Francisco. 

Perris earned an MsC in Behavioral Economics at the London School of Economics, and a BA from Northwestern University.

As a legal fellow with the Refugee Protection and Refugee Representation teams Ruby Ritchin supports strategic representation of clients affected by anti-asylum policies, conducts legal research, and authors analysis of law and policy.

Ruby earned a juris doctor from Harvard Law School in 2022. During law school, Ruby participated in the Child Advocacy Clinic, served as an editor with the Harvard Civil Rights‐Civil Liberties Law Review, and worked as a research assistant on issues of solitary confinement in immigration detention. Ruby spent her law school summers at the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center’s Immigration Detention Accountability Project. Before law school, Ruby worked in immigration advocacy and policy and directly with refugee communities.

Ruby graduated cum laude from Washington University in St. Louis, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree with highest distinction in history.

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.

Kareem Shora is the Executive Vice President for Programs and Policy for Human Rights First.  This position, created in October 2021, links the organization’s policy and advocacy work to best help clients, move legislation, and further our policy priorities.  Shora oversees the organization’s programs to set, coordinate, and accomplish those priorities.

Shora previously served as the acting Deputy Director for Programs and Policy at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) where he was a member of the senior executive leadership team and directed assistance efforts around local violence prevention across the United States. Shora also helped implement the Department’s public-health approach to violence prevention, with special attention to Domestic Violent Extremism (DVE) and its impact on American communities.  He spent over a decade leading the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) community engagement section.  While serving at DHS, he earned the 2015 Homeland Security Secretary’s Award for Excellence and the 2016 US Department of State Benjamin Franklin Award for Diplomacy.

Shora joined DHS after ten years with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), culminating in service as national executive director.  While at ADC, Shora was the youngest member and only civil rights advocate appointed to the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC).

A recipient of the 2003 American Immigration Lawyers Association’s (AILA) Arthur C. Helton Human Rights Award, Shora is widely published. He is fluent in Arabic and brings extensive experience working with national and international media.

After graduating from Marshall University, Shora earned his J.D. at the West Virginia University College of Law and received his LL.M. specialty in International Legal Studies (Public International Law) from the American University Washington College of Law.

Rebecca Soroka provides support to volunteer lawyers at law firms in the New York and New Jersey area, directly represents asylum seekers in New York, and oversees the New York Refugee Representation team’s internship program.

Prior to joining Human Rights First, Rebecca served as a staff attorney at African Services Committee, where she represented low-income individuals in the areas of immigration, family law, housing, and public benefits. Previously, Rebecca was a staff attorney for New York Legal Assistance, where she represented homeowners impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

Rebecca is from Montreal, Canada and holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia. She earned her J.D. from the University of La Verne and is admitted to practice in New York state.

As Supervising Staff Attorney 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 Act and other legal authorities to hold human rights abusers and corrupt actors accountable. In this role, she serves as the primary liaison with U.S. government personnel and assists NGOs and pro bono attorneys working to produce recommendations for sanctions in Africa, the Near East, and Europe and Eurasia.

Previously, Amanda worked with Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights as the Dale and James J. Pinto Fellow focused on human rights advocacy in South and Southeast Asia. She received her juris doctor from Georgetown University Law Center and a Certificate in Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies. During her time at Georgetown, she co-authored a report on violence and discrimination against LGBT persons in Guyana as part of the Human Rights Fact-Finding Practicum. She prepared a strategic litigation case to challenge child marriage laws in Botswana with the International Women’s Human Rights Clinic and participated in the Guantanamo Observers Program. During her summers, Amanda worked with the South African Human Rights Commission in Johannesburg and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

Prior to law school, Amanda worked with Women for Women International on communications and advocacy focused on challenges faced by women in conflict-affected countries. She has a B.A. in Foreign Affairs and a minor in French from the University of Virginia.

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. 

Erin Wilson serves as the Senior Director for Extremism & Human Rights at Human Rights First (HRF). Immediately before joining HRF, she served as the Director the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) Presidential Initiative, The People v. Hate: Standing Up for Humanity, on behalf of the 2021 NAAG President, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine. The initiative focused on addressing acute forms of hate, such as hate crimes, and the legacy of hate that permeates our institutions and continues to perpetuate injustice. She also served as the Attorney General’s Senior Policy Advisor on issues related to social and racial justice, hate, and domestic extremism.

Prior to joining the Washington D.C. Office of the Attorney General, Ms. Wilson spent nearly twenty years in the federal government executive and legislative branches—Capitol Hill, the National Counterterrorism Center, State, a DHS Task Force, and the Department of Defense—developing
strategy, policy, and programs to prevent hate and domestic extremism, and to promote social justice.

For instance, in 2019 she was a Brookings Legislative Fellow and Senior Policy Advisor in the Senate, where she furthered legislation to improve social justice, prevent hate, and counter violent white supremacy. While serving at the National Counterterrorism Center as a Senior Policy Strategist in 2017,
she successfully built a coalition of executive branch personnel to ensure that white supremacy was included in a national security strategy for the first time in our nation’s history.

Over her career, Ms. Wilson has established herself as a leading expert on counter hate and domestic extremism policy and programs. She boasts an extensive track record of building and leading diverse coalitions including community stakeholders and federal, state, and local law enforcement and military partners to design and implement strategies, policies, and programs to counter hate and extremism, while promoting civil rights.

Ms. Wilson earned her master’s degree in Comparative Politics and Conflict Studies, with an emphasis on extremism, from the London School of Economics. She received her bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Michigan State University.

Dr. Elizabeth Yates is the Senior Researcher for Antisemitism at Human Rights First.

Prior to joining Human Rights First, Liz spent four years as a Senior Researcher/Researcher on the domestic radicalization team at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland. During that time, she contributed to data collection and analysis on a series of datasets tracking trends in domestic extremism and hate crimes in the United States, co-authoring reports, briefs, and articles on topics including extremism in the U.S. military, the growth of anti-Muslim terrorism, mass casualty hate crime attacks, and disengagement from right-wing extremism, among others. In addition, Liz has taught undergraduate classes at the University of Maryland and the University of Pittsburgh, and worked at several other non-profit organizations.

She earned a doctorate in Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh, and a BA in International Relations at Tufts University.