Meet the INHR Team - Our Directors

Eric Richardson, Geneva

Eric is a lawyer and former diplomat and INHR's Founding President. He served the US Government working in and on China, North Korea, Libya, Tunisia, New Zealand and Israel, and headed the U.S. team at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva from 2013-16. He draws on his education at Stanford and his work as a regulatory attorney in Washington, DC to lead our AI mediation efforts and teaches law at U. Michigan and U. California-Berkeley Law Schools. Eric published his negotiations handbook, The Art of Getting More Back in Diplomacy, in 2021 and speaks Chinese, French and English.

Jeff Landsman, Chicago

Jeff Landsman has worked as an international buyer for ToysRUs, as a Certified Financial Planner, and as the administrative head of amateur theatre companies, after earning his MBA from the University of Chicago. Jeff is the administrative director of INHR and serves as the organization's Treasurer. He speaks French and English and has worked and traveled in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

John Sciamanna, New York City

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 was a founding INHR director and speaks English and Italian.

Deputy Directors

Luke Wilson, Geneva

Luke is INHR's Deputy Director for European Operations. He has previously worked as a diplomat for the mission of Fiji to the UN in Geneva, including a year as Special Advisor to the President of the Human Rights Council, and as an International Legal Specialist at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Luke obtained a JD from the University of Michigan Law School and a BA from the University of Michigan. He is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Maya Richardson, Geneva

As INHR's Deputy Director for Research, Maya supports the team's portfolios on AI, US-China relations, and UN engagement beyond the Human Rights Council. As a research and evaluation consultant, her experience cuts across the fields of development, human rights, and social policy, including work on climate and development finance and education policy. She has engaged with clients across government, international financial institutions, and global foundations. She holds an MSc in Comparative Social Policy from the University of Oxford and a BA in Global Studies from UCLA. Maya speaks English and French.

Senior Advisors

Clement N. Voule, Geneva

Clement completed his mandate as Special Rapporteur for the United Nations on Freedom of Assembly and Association in Summer, 2024 and joined INHR's Geneva team in September. Previously vice-chair of INHR's Advisory Council, Clement will support INHR work on human rights and security sector reform while also continuing on the Advisory Council. A native of Togo and international lawyer, Clement speaks French and English and holds a range of positions in Geneva working on human rights.

Biro Diawara, Geneva

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.

Jane Galvao, Geneva

Jane is INHR's Resource Mobilization Director and heads our health practice, as our Senior Advisor on Global Health. Jane has more than 20 years experience in managing health programs, focusing on infectious disease, women and children. She has past experience in reproductive health, health systems strengthening and has managed ore than $750 million in program funding for agencies like UNITAID and WHO. Jane writes frequently in her native Brazil, where she holds a PhD in public health and has lived in New York and California, where she did her post-doctoral work at U. California-Berkeley before coming to Geneva. Jane speaks Spanish, English and Portuguese.

Barry O'Sullivan, Ireland

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.

Assel Alimbayeva, Geneva

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 Human Rights 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. Assel leads on our social media, personnel and management functions as well.

Jack Johnson, Edinburgh

Jack works on our U.S. - China related projects as well as our Comprehensive Drugs Dialogue. He graduated from Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, USA with a BA in International Studies and obtained his MA in International Relations from Central European University in Vienna, Austria. Jack has extensive experience working in the charity sector in China with a focus on tackling water scarcity issues in the mountainous regions of China, such as Qinghai and Shanxi. Having grown up in both the UK and China, he is fluent in Mandarin and English. Jack also handles INHR's bookkeeping.

Yaru Wang, Paris

Yaru serves as an AI Researcher and Policy Officer at INHR, where she focuses on the complex interplay between artificial intelligence, military affairs, and human rights. She holds a PhD in international law. Prior to joining INHR, Yaru conducted research for two years at the Shanghai AI Lab, where she specialized in AI governance and the benchmarking of AI models. With fluency in both Mandarin and English, she offers a bilingual and cross-cultural perspective to international digital policy discourse. Yaru is additionally responsible for corporate governance issues.

Zaf Hassim, Bali and Colombo

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.

Artificial Intelligence Advisory Team

In addition to our Senior Technology Advisor Barry O'Sullivan and Director Eric Richardson, the INHR team handling AI issues includes:

General John (Jack) Shanahan, USAF retired & inaugural director of the Pentagon's Joint AI Center
Lt. General Ravi S. Panwar, Col. Commandant of the Indian Corps of Signals
Dr. Iben Yde, Professor of Military Law at the Royal Danish Defense University

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.

INHR's Advisory Council Adds Public and Private Sector Guidance

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 former 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. Joel Millman, former Press Officer with the International Organization for Migration; and Dr. Steve Schlozman, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at U. Vermont Medical School.

INHR is fortunate to benefit from the advice of Advisory Council members with such deep, impressive expertise