Board
Board of Directors
Bennett Freeman
Mr. Freeman manages Calvert's Social Research Department and directs its research and advocacy work. From 2003 until early 2006, he led Burson-Marsteller's Global Corporate Responsibility practice advising multinationals on policy development, stakeholder engagement and communications strategies related to human rights, labor rights and sustainable development. During the Clinton Administration he served in three positions as a political appointee in the State Department, most recently as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor from 1999 to early 2001. In that capacity, he led the development of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, the first human rights standard forged by governments, companies and NGOs for the extractive sectors. Earlier in his career he was Manager, Corporate Affairs for General Electric and a presidential campaign aide to former Vice President Walter Mondale. Mr. Freeman earned an MA in Modern History from Oxford and an AB in History from Berkeley, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Oxfam America and the Steering Committee of Amnesty International USA's Business and Human Rights program.
Harold Freilich
Harold I. Freilich is a partner in the Washington office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he is a member of the Corporate, Securities and Finance practice group and focuses on international and domestic financing transactions. He advises equity investors and project lenders in some of the world's most challenging emerging markets, including Russia and other republics of the former Soviet Union, Eastern and Central Europe, South America, and Asia.
Mr. Freilich also counsels industrial, high-technology, natural resources, and financial services firms (including broker-dealers, banks, and venture capital providers) in domestic and cross-border securities offerings. He also advises clients in general corporate and business transactions, securities regulatory, enforcement, and litigation matters, mergers and acquisitions, and commercial real estate matters.
Mark Hanis
Mark Hanis is the Founder and President of the Genocide Intervention Network. Genocide Intervention Network’s mission is to empower individuals and communities with the tools to prevent and stop genocide. As a grandchild of four Holocaust survivors, Mark has a deep understanding of individual persecution and of hope and opportunity. Outraged by the international community’s inaction when the
Genocide Intervention Network’s mission and programs are grounded in a deep commitment to the communities of those who face or are at risk of genocide. Its members educate their communities, advocate for action from their elected officials, and fundraise directly for civilian protection and human security. It is an unprecedented organization whose goal is to change the way the
Several events in Mark’s life put him on a course of anti-genocide activism, including work with Columbian asylum seekers and torture victims. Mark also spent seven months in
Mark has been honored with Ashoka, Echoing Green and Draper Richards Fellowships and he is a 2009 World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. Mark and Genocide Intervention Network have been featured in the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor and The New Republic as well have appeared on a number of media outlets, including CNN Headline News, NBC, MSNBC and NPR.
Joan Platt
Ms. Platt is a philanthropist and community volunteer whose focal interests are human rights, education and international development.
She is the Founder and President of the Joan and Lewis Platt Foundation whose mission is to support organizations that advocate for the human rights of women and children; design and implement programs for women and children in war-torn and post-conflict regions; combat human trafficking and seek to expose and address root causes of all forms of trafficking; promote economic opportunity and civil society in developing nations.
She currently serves on the boards of Human Rights Watch, Genocide Intervention Network, the Global Fund for Children, World affairs Council of Northern California and the East Palo Alto YMCA.
Ms. Platt owns and manages the Platt Vineyard (Bodega, California). She is a member of the Board of Visitors and Fellows at UC Davis (advising and supporting the oenology department) and a member of the Advisory Board of Winery Exchange, Inc. (Novato, California).
Her early career included several years of management experience in computer systems analysis.
Bethany Robertson
Bethany Robertson is an experienced social entrepreneur with a track record of starting and running innovative nonprofit organizations. As the co-founder of the I Do Foundation, Bethany created the opportunity for hundreds of thousands of engaged couples to share some of their wedding spending with charity. Bethany's work with the I Do Foundation has been featured in the New York Times, Newsweek, USA Today, Parade, the CBS Early Show, NPR and major bridal magazines.
In 2003, Bethany was part of a team that launched the Center for Progressive Leadership (CPL), a national political training institute that develops diverse leaders who can advance progressive political and policy change. Prior to her work with the I Do Foundation and CPL, Bethany was the Executive Director of College Bound and a consultant for the Community Technology Foundation of California and the Federal Head Start Program.
A teacher by training, Bethany earned a Masters in Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley and a B.A. in Education and Psychology from the University of Michigan.
Paul H. Schwartz
Paul H. Schwartz is a partner in the Cooley Godward Kronish Litigation department. He joined the Firm in 1998 and is resident in the Colorado office.
Mr. Schwartz's practice has included a variety of trial and appellate litigation and counseling services covering numerous areas, including securities and corporate governance, venture capital, intellectual property, commercial contracts, privacy law, commercial torts, bankruptcy, employment law, and white collar criminal defense. Among other high profile matters, he has represented several public company officers in investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and related litigation; directors of J.D. Edwards & Co. in litigation challenging that company's merger with PeopleSoft, Inc.; Walter J. Hewlett in a case challenging Hewlett-Packard's merger with Compaq; and Pacific Gas & Electric Company in the largest bankruptcy confirmation trial in U.S. history. Public companies Mr. Schwartz has successfully represented include Allos Therapeutics, Inc. and Raindance Communications, Inc. From 1994 to 1995, Mr. Schwartz served as law clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer and Retired Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the Supreme Court of the United States. He earlier served as law clerk to Judge Phyllis A. Kravitch, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. From 1995 to May 1998, he was associated with the law firm of Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore, LLP in Atlanta, Georgia.
Bradley D. Wine
Brad Wine is a partner in the Government Law and Strategy Group of the law firm of Dickstein Shapiro LLP where he represents clients in highly regulated industries. Mr. Wine’s practice focuses on regulatory compliance counseling, litigation, homeland security and defense issues, government ethics, protecting and preserving intellectual property rights, internal and government investigations, and complex transactional and financing matters.
In 2006, President Bush appointed Mr. Wine to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, the governing body of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Mr. Wine is the co-chair of the USHMM’s National and Greater Washington Next Generation Boards and Washington Lawyers’ Committee and a member of the USHMM’s Development and Governance Committees. He is a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Center for Excellence in Education and the Board of Directors of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.
Advisory Board
Holly Burkhalter
Ms. Burkhalter is a frequent witness before Congress, publishes articles and opinion pieces regularly, and writes a column on human rights law and policy for Legal Times, the quarterly legal newspaper. Her most recent publication is a chapter in the Council on Foreign Relations publication, Humanitarian Intervention: Crafting a Workable Doctrine (2000). Ms. Burkhalter graduated from Iowa State University in 1978 (Phi Beta Kappa) and received the University's "Outstanding Young Alumnus" award in 1984. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the advisory committees of Mental Disability Rights International and of the International Justice Mission. She is a founding board member of the International Labor Rights Fund. Ms. Burkhalter was appointed by President Bill Clinton to be a member of the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace and confirmed in that position by the U.S. Senate for a four-year term.
Juan Méndez
Juan Méndez is a native born Argentinean who served as the UN Secretary Generals Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide from July 14, 2004 to May 29, 2007. Before relocating to the United States he made a lasting impression in Argentina by dedicating his legal strengths to the defense of human rights. He protected political prisoners which led to his arrest and torture for over a year. This led to his release and move to the United States in 1977 and Amnesty International adopted him as a prisoner of conscience. Once settled into the United States, Mr. Méndezturned his efforts towards working with Human Rights Watch for more than 15 years. Then, from 1996 to 1999 he became the executive director of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights in Costa Rica. Following this honor, his attention shifted to becoming a professor of law and director of the Center for Civil and Human Rights for the University of Notre Dame in the US. His teachings have since impressed many by teaching International Human Rights Law at the Oxford Masters Program and at Georgetown Law School. He is currently a visiting professor of law at American University and is a proud recipient of the Goler T. Butcher Medal amongst several other distinguished and well deserved awards. Since his position in 2004, Mr. Méndez has made the Darfur conflict in Sudan one of his top priorities.
Trevor Neilson
Trevor Neilson is a senior advisor APCO Worldwide, a global public affairs firm with offices in major cities throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
Prior to that, Mr. Neilson was executive director of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC). During his tenure at the GBC, he helped grow corporate membership to more than 200 multinational companies who are involved in the fight against the world's deadliest diseases. He also opened and managed offices in New York, Paris, Beijing, Geneva and Johannesburg, and established partnerships in 20 countries around the world.
Mr. Neilson served as director of public affairs and special projects at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he was responsible for grant-making, government relations and public affairs. He also was the spokesperson and managed relationships with the United Nations, governments, corporations and NGOs. In addition, he worked for Bill and Melinda Gates on personal projects and served as spokesperson for the Gates family.
Mr. Neilson worked in the Clinton White House in the Office of Scheduling and Advance, and the White House Travel Office. He is a member of the Clinton Global Initiative, the Council on Foreign Relations, the Wikimedia Foundation advisory board, the Genocide Intervention Network advisory board, the Business & Human Rights Resource Center and a number of other organizations. He is vice-chairman of Saflink, a technology company focused on biometric security solutions for government agencies in the United States, and is a visiting practitioner at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute in the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership, where he lectures on the role of philanthropy and corporate responsibility in public policy and international relations.
John Prendergast
John Prendergast is Co-Chair of ENOUGH. Previously, John worked at the White House and State Department during the Clinton administration, where he was involved in a number of peace processes throughout Africa. John also has worked for members of Congress, the UN, human rights organizations, and think tanks. He has authored eight books on Africa, the latest of which he co-authored with actor/activist Don Cheadle, entitled "Not on Our Watch." John travels regularly to Africa's war zones on fact-finding missions, peace-making initiatives, and awareness- raising trips involving network news programs, celebrities, and politicians.
Pierre-Richard Prosper
Pierre-Richard Prosper is U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues. Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Prosper served as Special Counsel and Policy Adviser in the Office of War Crimes Issues and as a Special Assistant to the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division. From 1996 to late 1998, Ambassador Prosper served as a war crimes prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, where he successfully prosecuted the first case of genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention. Between 1994 and 1996, he was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California. As part of the Drug Enforcement Task Force, he investigated and prosecuted major international drug cartels. Ambassador Prosper was a Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County from 1989 to 1994.
Born in Denver, Colorado, and raised in New York State, Ambassador Prosper received a B.A. from Boston College and a J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law. In 2000, he was the recipient of Pepperdine University School of Law’s Distinguished Alumnus Award and he was selected by Harvard Law School to be a 2000-2001 Wasserstein Fellow. In 1999, he received the Alumni Award of Excellence in the field of Law from Boston College.
Kenneth Roth
Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch since 1993, has investigated human rights abuses around the globe, with special expertise on issues of justice and accountability for atrocities committed in the quest for peace; military conduct in war under the requirements of international humanitarian law; counterterrorism policy including resort to torture and arbitrary detention; the human rights policies of the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations; and the human rights responsibilities of multinational businesses. Mr. Roth has published more than 100 articles and chapters on a range of human rights topics. Before joining HRW as deputy director in 1987, Mr. Roth was a federal prosecutor for both the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the Iran-Contra investigation in Washington. He is a graduate of Yale Law School and Brown University.
David Scheffer
David Scheffer has joined Northwestern Law as a faculty member holding an endowed professorship and serving as the new Director of the Center for International Human Rights. He teaches International Human Rights Law and International Criminal Law. He was previously the U.S. Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues (1997-2001) and led the U.S. delegation in U.N. talks establishing the International Criminal Court. During his ambassadorship, Scheffer negotiated and coordinated U.S. support for the establishment and operation of international and hybrid criminal tribunals and U.S. responses to atrocities anywhere in the world. He also headed the Atrocities Prevention Inter-Agency Working Group.
During the first term of the Clinton Administration, Scheffer served as senior adviser and counsel to the U.S. Representative to the United Nations, Dr. Madeleine Albright, and served from 1993 through 1996 on the Deputies Committee of the National Security Council. Scheffer recently held visiting professorships at Northwestern Law, Georgetown University Law Center, and George Washington University Law School and taught earlier at Duke University School of Law and Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. He has published extensively on international legal and political issues and appears regularly in the national and international media. He is a CNN Legal Analyst. Scheffer is a member of the New York and District of Columbia Bars, the American Society of International Law (formerly serving on the Executive Council), and the Council on Foreign Relations, and is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the International Law Students Association.
Clint Williamson
Since June 29, 2006 Clint Williams has served as the US Ambassador-at-Large For War Crimes Issues. As a distinguished law professional, who holds a bachelors degree from Louisiana Technical Institute and a law degree from Tulane University, Mr. Williamson has been an important figure in many corners of the world towards the prevention of war crimes. In his current position, he is a Special Expert to the UN Secretary-General on international justice issues. From 1994-2001 he lived in The Hague, Netherlands as a trial attorney at the International Criminal Tribunal. Following this assignment, Mr. Williams moved his interests to Kosovo from 2001-2002 by serving as the Director of the Department of Justice in the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations for the UN Mission in Kosovo. His interests spread even further from April- July 2003 as he was appointed the First Senior Adviser to the Iraqi Minister of Justice in Baghdad. Since this array of posts, Mr. Williamson has proven himself to be crucial in looking at War Crimes Issues by developing the proposal for the creation of a standing US Government Post-Conflict Response Capability. Just prior to the induction into his current position he served as the acting assistant to the President and Senior Director for Relief, Stabilization, and Development at the National Security Council.
