Eric is founding President of INHR and leads our Geneva office’s engagement on health, human rights, migration and disarmament. As a diplomat and lawyer for the State Department, he served in and focused on China, North Korea, Libya, Tunisia, New Zealand, Israel, and the UN Human Rights Council. As an international attorney, he mediates between governments and hard-to-reach actors, teaches law at Michigan and UC Berkeley law schools; and represents trade associations, tech companies and NGOs. Eric leads INHR’s Student Legal Advisors program and published his negotiations handbook, Getting More Back, last year. He speaks Chinese, French & English.
Hans has worked on international human rights and humanitarian affairs in the U.S. Congress and civil society for more than 30 years in Washington and now lives in New York. As Executive Director of the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, Hans organized hundreds of Congressional hearings concerning human rights in every corner of the globe. A strong advocate for the under-represented, Hans has a particular interest in refugees and the women, peace and security agenda. Outside the Congress, Hans' advocacy has included work for the U.S. Department of State, Refugees International, and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. He has dozens of media appearances and publications. He is fluent in English and German.
Kumar was Amnesty International's USA Advocacy Director, based in Washington, for more than 20 years until he joined the INHR team as a Senior Human Rights Adviser. A former political prisoner in his native Sri Lanka, Kumar has analyzed and advocated for strong mechanisms to address human rights and humanitarian situations across the globe. His expertise ranges from Afghanistan to Myanmar and he has advocated in Washington, New York and Geneva for mistreated populations, particularly in Asia. Kumar represents INHR on the United States' Atrocity Prevention Task Force.
John specializes in children’s policy, economic and social rights, labor, health, and well-being for women and youth. John has more than 30 years’ experience advancing these issues on behalf of non-profit social welfare groups and coalitions, as well as in the United States Congress and state legislatures. Monitoring, advocacy, legislative and regulatory policy, and public affairs are among his specialties. John has drafted hundreds of statements for non-profit clients, including Congressional testimony, legislative agendas, and articles on issues of social welfare. Based in New York, John speaks English and Italian.
Olga is the Director of our new office in Brussels. Her 16 years of experience working on international issues includes stretches at the World Meteorological Organization, the Moldovan foreign service and in various non-governmental organizations. During her Master's at the Geneva Graduate Institute, Olga co-authored a paper titled, Gendered Impacts of Weather and Climate: Evidence from Asia, Pacific and Africa, (2019), and looks forward to utilizing this research at INHR. Before joining us, Olga launched a national and then international model UN. She is leading our work on a similar project to bridge youth empowerment and climate change mitigation.
Barry is an award-winning academic working in artificial intelligence. He works as our Senior Technology Advisor, engaging in our workshops on AI and diplomacy. He is founding director of the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics at University College Cork and the SFI Centre for Research Training in AI. Barry served as Vice Chair of the European Commission High-Level Expert Group on AI and is a Fellow and a past President of the European AI Association. He is also a Fellow and a member of the Executive Council of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence.
INHR's Senior Adviser on Africa, Biro has been an NGO activist in Geneva for more than 20 years, representing the interests of African civil society, including broadcasters, parliamentarians, religious figures and human rights defenders. He specializes in democracy and trade promotion and interfaith dialogue. A man of many hats, he has affiliations with African delegations and civil society in New York, Geneva and on the continent, including special interest in Sudan, West Africa and his home country, Guinea. Biro is a Swiss citizen and is fluent in French and English.
Chris is a legal expert (Juris Doctor) with a strong background in immigration law and a Master of Advanced Studies in Transitional Justice, Human Rights, and the Rule of Law from Geneva's Graduate Institute. Following her previous role of 10 years as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, Chris now supports our Student Legal Advisor programme and the development of our climate and refugee work. Most recently, Chris developed the budget for our Artificial Intelligence and New Technologies project.
Eddie is Project Officer and Administrator at INHR, working on our projects relating to health crises and crisis management between the U.S. and China. He graduated from the University of Oxford with a BA in History and Modern Languages (Spanish) and holds an MSc in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics (LSE). He speaks English, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.
Holder of a BA in Applied Foreign Languages (English, Russian) with a specialization in Translation, Assel is Program Officer and Administrator at INHR, partaking in projects involving Artificial Intelligence and the UN. She speaks English, French, Russian, and Kazakh. Her previous experiences include shadowing the Chef de Cabinet of the Office of the Director General at UNOG, assisting independent translators, and interning for the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan in Geneva.
A Peruvian lawyer and graduate of INHR’s student legal advisor program, Pedro joined INHR as a legal advisor in 2023 to help provide greater service in areas of international trade, international competition law and policy, business and human rights, international development, and other issues of legal compliance. Pedro has experience in the Peruvian government in competition law and policy, international trade, antidumping proceedings, human rights, and intellectual property issues and worked as a Student Legal Advisor for the WTO and UNCTAD delegation of the Dominican Republic.
A videographer and reconciliation specialist, Zafarullah Hassim works across Asia helping to train and bring together groups in conflict. His experience covers Sri Lanka, Burma, Indonesia and Central African Republic, among the world's most challenging conflicts. A visiting lecturer in the UK in applied theater, Zaf uses cinematography to bring trainings to life with techniques such as newsreels and the use of the camera as a training mirror. Zaf is an experienced member of USAID and IOM service delivery teams, and produced most of the videos on this website. He has been with INHR since 2019.
In addition to our Senior Technology Advisor Barry O'Sullivan and Director Eric Richardson, the INHR team handling AI issues includes:
These are among 25 experts from the US, China, Asia and Europe who participate in our trilateral dialogues on AI safety, security and governance programs in partnership with entities like CACDA, CNAS, Tsinghua University and Founders Pledge.
On June 30, 2022, INHR’s Advisory Council held its inaugural meeting. The Council, chaired by Ms. Paula Schriefer, the President and CEO of the Spring Institute, provides INHR with expert advice on our strategic direction and on enhancing our strong work in humanitarian affairs, human rights, and diplomatic matters.
Joining Ms. Schriefer on the Council are Mr. Clement Voule, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association; Ms. Fawzia Koofi, former Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Afghanistan; Mr. Philip French, former Director of the International Olympic Committee’s Public Affairs and Social Development through Sport Department; and Mr. Joel Millman, former Press Officer with the International Organization for Migration; and Dr. Steve Schlozman, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School.
INHR is fortunate to benefit from the advice of Advisory Council members with such deep, impressive expertise