Use Your Power: Human Rights Conference 2013 Confirmed Speakers ANNA AAGENES Anna Aagenes is the Executive Director of GO! Athletes, the first national LGBTQ support group for student-athletes. She is the former Team Captain at the University of Pennsylvania, Women’s Track and Field Team and former Co-Chair of PATH (Penn Athletes and Allies Tackling Heterosexism and Homophobia). She currently resides in Philadelphia and continues to advocate on behalf of LGBTQ youth. ADOTEI AKWEI Adotei Akwei is Managing Director for Government Relations for Amnesty International USA. Before rejoining AIUSA, Adotei was the Deputy Director for Government Relations, for CARE USA. As Deputy he worked on Climate Change, Emergencies, Countries in Conflict and Micro finance in sub Saharan Africa. Prior to taking this position he served as Regional Advocacy Advisor for CARE’s Asia Regional Management Unit, where he supported CARE country offices in the development and implementation of national level advocacy strategies, as well as helping develop and implement regional advocacy priorities. Before joining CARE, Mr. Akwei worked with Amnesty International USA for 11 years, first as the senior Advocacy Director for Africa and then later as Director of Campaigns. Mr. Akwei also served as the Africa Director for the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, now Human Rights First, and as the Research and Human Rights Director for the American Committee on Africa and the Africa Fund. Mr. Akwei received his Masters in International Relations from the College of William and Mary and his Bachelors from the State University of New York College at Purchase. He is originally from Ghana. LYDIA CACHO Lydia Cacho is a Mexican journalist, author and a feminist activist against violence. In 2000 she founded and directs a high security shelter for battered and sexually exploited women and children in Cancun, Mexico. Ms. Cacho is the first woman in Mexican history that has taken to trial an organized crime ring of child pornography, sexual tourism and women's trafficking. She filed a successful counter-suit for corruption and for violation of her human rights. In this regard, Ms. Cacho is the first woman in Mexico who has ever filed a federal suit against a Governor, a District Attorney, and a judge for corruption and attempted rape in prison. Ms. Cacho has been imprisoned for her work and put her life on the line on behalf of children and women in Mexico. As a consequence of her unwavering defense of human rights and journalistic freedom, her own life is repeatedly threatened. Despite these dangers, she continues to champion the advancement of human rights for all children and women because she believes that every single person deserves to live a life of dignity. She has published seven books, one of the award-wining Manuals to prevent, detect and heal child sexual abuse (Con mi hij@ no) She is coauthor of five collective books. Currently she is a columnist on El Universal, the main national newspaper in Mexico and a workshop teacher on successful approaches to help trafficking victims and Community Schools for Peace: a holistic approach to negotiate conflicts. Her new book Slaves of power: a world map of sex traffickers, will be released on summer 2010. DE’JAUN CORREIA De’Jaun Correia has been a bold and courageous advocate with AIUSA, working towards death penalty abolition since he was in seventh grade . As Troy Davis’s nephew, he has been witness to the gross injustice committed by the US criminal justice system. In order to spread the word of the need for reform, he has spoken to British Parliament members, youth groups, schools and AIUSA members about human rights and how young people can make a difference. A committed scholar, he will graduate from the International Baccalaureate program in June and hopes to major in Industrial Engineering at Georgia Tech. Regardless of where his future takes him, he intends to continue campaigning for human rights with Amnesty International. LAILA EL-HADDAD Laila el-Haddad author of Gaza Mom: Palestine, Politics, Parenting, and Everything In Between and co-author of The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey, is a talented blogger, political analyst, social activist, and parent-of-three from Gaza City. She is also a contributing author to The Goldstone Report: The Legacy of the Landmark Investigation of the Gaza Conflict, and a policy advisor with al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network. Laila was born in Kuwait and raised primarily in Saudi Arabia, where her parents, both Gaza natives, worked, while summering in Gaza. She attended an international high school in Bahrain before coming to the United States. She received her BA from Duke University and her MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Shortly after finishing graduate school, Laila returned to Gaza. From 2003-2007, she was the Gaza stringer for the Al Jazeera English website and was a regular contributor to the BBC and the Guardian online as well as radio correspondent for Pacifica’s Free Speech Radio News. During this time, she co-directed two Gaza-based documentaries for Tourist with a Typewriter Productions that aired on Al-Jazeera English, including the award-winning film Tunnel Trade. Laila also enjoys heritage collecting and travel writing, and authored the Gaza section of the Alternative Tourism Guide's Palestine guidebook. She has been published in the Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, International Herald Tribune, The New Statesman, The Daily Star, Le monde diplomatique, and has appeared on CNN, NPR, and Al Jazeera. Since November 2004, she has authored an award-winning blog now known as Gaza Mom. A running theme in El-Haddad's writing is the personalization of the situation of Gazans and Palestinians, a topic to which she brings her characteristic wry humor and introspective humanity about her daily life and those of other Palestinians. BRIAN EVANS Brian Evans is the Campaigner for Amnesty International USA’s Death Penalty Abolition Campaign. Prior to moving to Washington, DC, in 2006, he was a founding member of the Texas Moratorium Network and a member of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, organizations working to stop executions in the state of Texas. He has a Master’s degree in Middle East Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and also served for 8 years as Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia Country Specialist for Amnesty International USA. BECKY FARRAR Becky Farrar chose to study law after several years in the work force to strengthen her ability to advocate for positive change on a global level. While at Stetson University College of Law, she been very involved in studying international human rights law. She is co-founder and first President of Stetson’s Amnesty International chapter, and coordinates state-wide lobbying in Florida as a Legislative Coordinator for Amnesty International USA. Becky has worked with Gulfcoast Legal Services on a Pro Bono Asylum project, recruiting and preparing resources for pro bono attorneys in handling asylum cases. She is currently President of the Public Service Fellows and helped develop and introduce the Street Law™ at Stetson program (teaching middle school students about law). Becky has done extensive research into human rights issues related to microfinance, women’s rights in Africa, and the use of amicus briefs in the U.S. federal courts to advocate on human and civil rights. She interned with a human rights non-governmental organization in D.C., and studied international law abroad in Europe. Becky’s varied and eclectic background of work and volunteer experience give her a unique breadth and understanding of several different businesses and organizations. Becky draws on her understanding of small and large businesses and her volunteer work in all levels of non-profit groups (from grassroots to board of directors) to creatively brainstorm solutions, and generate innovative and synergistic approaches. COLIN GODDARD Colin Goddard’s whole life changed after surviving the Virginia Tech massacre on April 16, 2007. Born in Nairobi, Kenya, to English and American parents working in international development, Goddard grew up in Somalia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the United States. He completed high school in Cairo, Egypt, and returned to the US to graduate with a BA in International Studies from Virginia Tech in 2008. While in his 4th year at Virginia Tech, Goddard was shot four times and was one of seven people, out of a classroom of seventeen, to survive the shooting. He still has three of the four bullets in his body as well as a titanium rod implanted in his left femur. Now an activist at the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Goddard uses his experience to educate others about the realities of gun violence and the problems in U.S. gun laws. The story of how he became involved in gun violence prevention is documented in the short film, Living for 32. Goddard appears in numerous media interviews, engagement events, and spends time lobbying in Congress and state legislatures. He also uses the film to share his story in an effort to educate, advocate, and mobilize Americans to get involved in preventing gun violence. Goddard now lives and works in Washington, D.C. SARAH HAGER Sarah Hager is the Chair of the AIUSA Southern Africa Co-Group. Sarah Hager is a volunteer leader at Amnesty International USA, serving as Chair of the Southern Africa Co-Group where she guides the efforts of Country Specialists monitoring human rights in twelve countries. She has also served as a Board member with Calling All Crows, an organization dedicated to empowering women, where she directed the development of their advocacy campaign. Additionally, Sarah was a consultant with IDP Action, leading the US-based lobbying effort for ratification of the African Union's newly signed Internally Displaced Person's Convention, and volunteered as a statement taker with the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Diaspora project.