About Us
MARIO JOSEPH, AV., BAI MANAGING ATTORNEY, has co-managed and managed the BAI since 1996, and has practiced human rights and criminal law since 1993. The New York Times called him, “Haiti’s most prominent human rights lawyer” in 2006. Mario spearheaded the prosecution of the Raboteau Massacre trial in 2000, one of the most significant human rights cases anywhere in the Western Hemisphere. He has represented dozens of jailed political prisoners, in Haitian courts and in complaints before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In 2013, Mario was a finalist for the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. In 2014, Mario and Brian Concannon were awarded the Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice. In 2009, Mr. Joseph received the Judith Lee Stronach Human Rights Award from the Center for Justice & Accountability and the Katherine and George Alexander Human Rights Prize from the University of Santa Clara Law School.Mario has testified as an expert on Haitian criminal procedure before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and in U.S. courts, and served on the Haitian government’s Law Reform Commission. Mr. Joseph is also an educator and a graduate of Haiti’s Teachers’ College. He has extensive experience teaching human rights and legal issues to grassroots advocacy organizations, human rights groups and victims’ organizations. Contact: mario@ijdh.org
Human rights lawyer and activist Brian Concannon is the Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH). Brian is a trusted voice on human rights in Haiti and US policy to its oldest neighbor, through his writing and speaking to a wide range of audiences. But he is most proud of his work helping Haitian human rights advocates make their own voices heard, from the lawyers at the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux to the victims of the UN cholera in Haiti. Brian lived and worked in Haiti from 1995 to 2004, first with the United Nations, and after 1996 with the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) in Port-au-Prince. He returned to the US to start IJDH in 2004, when a US-supported coup d’etat overthrew Haiti’s elected government and demonstrated that no progress in Haiti would be sustainable unless the US and other powerful countries respected Haitian sovereignty. Brian is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and Middlebury College. He held a Brandeis International Fellowship in Human Rights, Intervention and International Law from 2001-2003, and was a 2005-06 Wasserstein Public Interest Law Fellow at Harvard Law School. Contact: brian@ijdh.org
Alexandra “Sasha” Filippova, Senior Staff Attorney, focuses primarily on accountability for human rights violations; gender justice, including sexual and gender-based violence; and governance in her work at IJDH.
Sasha started her legal career as an associate at Shearman & Sterling LLP, where her practice included international dispute resolution, public international law, and human rights. While there, she served as one of the lead counsel in a successful lawsuit against the Syrian government for its extrajudicial killing of war correspondent Marie Colvin and advised clients on a variety of legal and policy matters, including interstate territorial disputes and UN Security Council reform. Prior to joining IJDH, Sasha served as a Senior Legal Fellow with the Center for Justice and Accountability, where she worked on litigating a crimes against humanity claim; and as a Legal Advisor and Fellow with the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative, where she focused on confronting gender-based violence and promoting women’s empowerment around the globe.
Sasha holds graduate degrees from Georgetown University’s Law Center and Walsh School of Foreign Service, where she focused her studies on human rights and transitional justice, including field work in Liberia and Cambodia. Contact: sasha@ijdh.org
Steve Forester, Immigration Policy Coordinator, leads efforts to win creation of a Haitian Family Reunification Parole Program (FRPP) to speed entry into the U.S. of 110,000 beneficiaries of approved visa petitions, to give parity with DHS’s Cuban FRPP and help Haiti recover by generating additional remittances. He has won support for this from about 100 congresspersons, 10 editorial boards in 17 editorials, the Miami-Dade County Commission, NY and Philadelphia city councils, the US Conference of Mayors, ABA, NAACP, Congressional Black Caucus, MA Gov. Patrick and others. Pre-quake, he secured pro-TPS editorials in major papers and political, legal and media support after devastating 2008 storms. He meets officials and pens op-eds; his January 2009 work won a quiet halt of all non-criminal Haiti deportations formalized by TPS after the quake. A Haiti rights advocate since 1979, he has testified in the Senate, House and other bodies and led the fight to enact the Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act of 1998 (HRIFA), under which 20,000 Haitians became U.S. permanent residents. IJDH has sponsored his work since February 2009. Contact: steveforester@aol.com
Kristina Fried, Bertha Justice Fellow, prior to joining IJDH, worked as a Legal Fellow with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Washington, DC. During her fellowship, Kristina worked with stateless persons on administrative and legislative advocacy, as well as intervention on individual stateless and refugee cases. She also spent a semester working with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights on strategic litigation and advocacy concerning violent push-backs of migrants at Europe’s external borders, in particular assisting with a submission to the Human Rights Committee. Prior to that, Kristina worked with the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies representing victims of gender- and gang-based violence in their asylum claims. Kristina holds a B.A. from the University of Melbourne in Islamic Studies and Arabic and is a 2020 graduate of Boston University School of Law, where she specialized in international human rights law. During law school, Kristina served as a student attorney with the International Human Rights Clinic, where she worked with civil society to map stateless populations in Lebanon, identify the root causes of statelessness, and propose an advocacy strategy to address those causes.
Andrea Garber, Development Coordinator, before assuming her current role with IJDH, worked in a wide variety of nonprofit spaces including foster care & family services, early intervention, and environmental education. Andrea received her Bachelor’s from Mars Hill University, where she majored in Sociology and Spanish – focusing her studies on methods of sustainable, community based water resource management in Haiti. As an undergraduate student, she had the pleasure of serving as a Bonner Scholar, which gave her the opportunity to take part in regular service related to social justice and community partnerships. Through this program, Andrea became connected to work in Haiti and has continued to volunteer with organizations working to promote the power of Haitian communities. Andrea received a Master’s in Youth, Family, and Community Science from North Carolina State University and is currently based near Asheville, North Carolina. Contact: andrea@ijdh.org
Catherine Chang, Operations Coordinator, before assuming her current role, served as an intern at IJDH providing administrative support and conducting research on United Nations sexual exploitation and abuse. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where she majored in Political Science and Economics and worked on research on international conflict and human rights violations. She is a San Francisco Bay Area native and has volunteered with organizations serving those facing homelessness in her local community. Contact:Â catherine@ijdh.org
Elise Manchester, Legal Intern, is a third-year law student at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Before joining IJDH, Elise interned with Human Rights Watch in its Economic Justice and Rights Division where she worked on issues related to corporate accountability and human rights in global supply chains. Prior to starting law school, Elise worked in international advocacy and resource development, serving several Palestinian organizations, including the Mossawa Center and Baladna – Association for Arab Youth. Elise holds a B.A. from DePaul University in International Studies, Arabic Studies, and French.
Megan Krasnodembski, Legal Intern, is a third-year law student at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada. She currently supports the international advocacy of Autism Alliance of Canada as a Research Support Officer, and the publication of the PKI Global Justice Journal as an Editorial Intern. Prior to joining IJDH, Megan interned with the UN High Commission for Refugees in Ottawa, Canada, where she conducted research on family separation and alternatives to detention. Megan received an Honours Bachelor of Arts from McGill University in International Development Studies, with a double minor in Political Science and Mandarin.
Kris Sturm, Legal Intern, is a third-year law student at Washington University in St. Louis. In addition to IJDH, Kris works as a researcher at the Crimes Against Humanity Initiative at the Whitney Harris World Law Institute supporting the development of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity currently in the 6th Comm. at the UN. Prior to joining IJDH, he interned with the Refugee Appeals Authority of South Africa and worked at the WashU Immigration Law Clinic representing and working for asylum-seekers. Prior to law school he worked in private international law at Viking Advocates, LLC. He holds a BA in Philosophy with a minor in German from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
Aalia Garrett, Intern, is a fourth year undergraduate student at the University of Georgia, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in International Affairs with minors in International Human Rights and Security and Law, Jurisprudence, and the State. She is currently a member of UGA’s Human Rights Research Lab, where she works on various projects such as HRMI and SNARP, while conducting her own independent research on workplace discrimination against ex-offenders in high income democracies. Outside of IJDH, she is also an intern for the Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) and the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission. She is extremely passionate about human rights and the pursuit of international equity, with a focus on the intersection between them and sustainability, as well as lawmaking. Through this internship, she hopes to strengthen her knowledge of human rights practices in Haiti, while also learning more about the nation’s diverse culture and society.
Pradanya Nagru, Intern, is a senior at the University of Georgia, studying International Affairs, with minors in French General Business, and International Human Rights and Security. She has prior internship experience on Capitol Hill and at a peacebuilding NGO. On campus, she is involved with the UGA chapter of Amnesty International and conducts independent research at the intersection of social media and human rights at the GLOBIS Human Rights Lab. After finishing her undergraduate studies, she wants to go to graduate school and pursue a career in technology policy. Through this internship, Pradanya hopes to learn more about Haiti and the operations of a Human Rights non-profit.
Teagan Freda-Cowie, Intern, is a fourth-year undergraduate student at Whitman College studying English with a minor in Politics and a concentration in Global Studies. His experience in international human rights centers around his time spent in Siem Reap, Cambodia where he conducted and presented an independent research project, done in collaboration with Khmer activists and community members, aimed at expanding resistance efforts to the Cambodian state’s violent and unconstitutional exclusion of ethnic Vietnamese from citizenship. He is excited to be interning with IJDH and hopes this experience will expose him to effective ways in which the international community can support, and stand in solidarity with, local grassroots advocacy groups fighting to protect human rights.
Destiny Rosulme, Intern, is a rising senior at Swarthmore College double majoring in Human Rights and French & Francophone Studies. As a Haitian-born Haitian-American, she is passionate about advocating for Haitian populations both within Haiti and the Haitian diaspora. She has prior internship experience working for a non-profit organization in the Dominican Republic that provides educational and community support to the local Haitian migrant community. On campus, she is heavily involved with spreading awareness of refugee and migrant rights through research and programming, in addition to leading efforts to combat and respond to sexual violence. After completing her undergraduate degree, Destiny hopes to work with underserved populations around the world and attend law school. Destiny is looking forward to gaining critical insights into Haitian current events and working with an organization committed to uplifting the needs and experiences of the Haitian people.
Franciscka Lucien is the Director of Health Equity at the Clinton Global Initiative, an initiative of the Clinton Foundation. Prior to joining the Foundation, she served as Executive Director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. She previously worked with Partners In Health from 2011-2018. She served as Deputy Director of Policy and Partnerships for PIH Liberia, coordinating with underserved communities, non-governmental organizations, the Ministry of Health, and international partners to strengthen delivery of health services in the wake of the Ebola epidemic. This followed prior roles in Liberia, Haiti, and Boston in areas of clinical operations, integrated delivery systems, financing, and health workforce development.
Before entering the nonprofit field, Franciscka worked in advocacy and crisis management for clients across Fortune 500 companies and industries including finance, healthcare, and economic development. She holds a Master of Arts from the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs and a Bachelor of Science from the Georgetown University Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
Irwin Stotzky, Esq. is a Professor of Law and Director of the Center for the Study of Human Rights at the University of Miami. He has advised the Haitian and Argentine governments on transitional justice issues, and represented Haitian refugees in U.S. courts. Professor Stotzky has written books on transitional justice in Haiti and Latin America.
Joia Mukherjee MD, MPH, IJDH Vice President, is the Chief Medical Officer for Partners In Health, since 2000. She is an internist, paediatrician and infectious disease specialist and an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Mukherjee’s clinical focus in resource-poor settings has been HIV/AIDS, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, mental health and most recently, ebola. She builds the capacity of healthcare professionals and emerging leaders in the Global Health Delivery discipline by teaching infectious disease, Global Health Delivery and human rights to health professionals and students from US and international institutions. Dr. Mukherjee serves on the board of directors for Last Mile Health, Village Health Works and Project Muso. She advises many other grassroots organizations in their efforts to deliver health care with a human rights approach to the poorest of the poor. In addition, Dr. Mukherjee consults for the World Health Organization and other international agencies on health systems strengthening, human resources for health, the treatment for HIV and more.
Chris Geyer, IJDH Secretary and Board Chair, retired from a multi national Facilities Maintenance Company, where he served as the COO in 2012. He and his wife, Christina live in Joseph, Oregon and they have three adult children and three grandsons.
Blaine Bookey is Co-Legal Director at the UC Hastings-based Center for Gender & Refugee Studies where she works to advance protections for survivors of gender-based violence and other forms of persecution. Blaine also coordinates the College’s Haiti Justice Initiative and Chairs the Board of Directors of the international women’s rights organization, MADRE. Previously, Blaine served as a legal fellow with IJDH and BAI and as a federal appellate law clerk. Before attending law school, Blaine worked as an immigration paralegal for several years advocating for many Haitian refugees. The American Constitution Society recognized Blaine for her work on behalf of marginalized communities with the 2016 David Carliner Public Interest Award.
Herby Duverné is Principal and CEO of Windwalker Group (2012 to present), a Boston-based risk management firm that focuses on cyber and physical security solutions. Mr. Duverné has served as the Deputy Director of Aviation Security (2006-2011) and Director of Emergency Management (2011-2012) for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which oversees Logan International Airport.
Fran Quigley is a clinical professor at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, where he directs the Health and Human Rights Clinic. Students in the Health and Human Rights Clinic advocate for the rights of the poor, with a special focus on representing low-wage workers. He is the author of Walking Together, Walking Far: How a U.S. and African Medical School Partnership Is Winning the Fight against HIV/AIDS (Indiana University Press, 2009) and How Human Rights Can Build Haiti: The Lawyers, the Activists, and the Grassroots Movement (Vanderbilt University Press, forthcoming 2014), which profiles the work of IJDH and BAI. Fran has served as the executive director of ACLU of Indiana and as a public defender and civil rights attorney. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife Ellen and their three children, Sam, Katie, and Jack.
Mary H. White, M.D. is an infectious diseases physician who conducts medical evaluations of persons seeking asylum in the United States for persecution or torture in their home country at the Global Health Program of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. She has joined advocacy groups at the Department of Homeland Security to improve health conditions and standards in U.S. detention centers, and she has delivered medical care in Haiti.
Beatrice Lindstrom is a Clinical Instructor in the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School. Prior to joining Harvard, she worked as a lawyer at IJDH for eight years and BAI for one year. While at IJDH, her work focused on path-breaking advocacy to secure accountability from the UN for causing a devastating cholera epidemic in Haiti. She was lead counsel in Georges v. United Nations, the class action lawsuit brought in the United States on behalf of those injured and killed by cholera. For her work on the cholera case, she received the Zanmi Ayiti Award from the Haiti Solidarity Network of the Northeast and the Recent Graduate Award from the NYU Law Alumni Association. Lindstrom was also previously an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights, and a Haiti country expert for Freedom House. She holds a J.D. from NYU School of Law, where she was a Root-Tilden-Kern public interest scholar, and a B.A. from Emory University.
