Rushan Abbas

Rushan Abbas is Founder of Campaign for Uyghurs. Abbas is a former student activist of the pro-democracy demonstrations at Xinjiang University in 1985 and 1988. She served as the Vice-President of the Students’ Science and Culture Union at the university in 1987. Abbas frequently briefed the U.S. lawmakers and officials on the human rights situation in Xinjiang. She regularly appears on media outlets to advocate for the Uyghur cause and gives public speeches in universities and think tanks.

Ambassador Andrew Bremberg is the President and CEO of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. Previously Ambassador Bremberg served as the Representative of the United States to the Office of the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva. Ambassador Bremberg has a long history of public service. Prior to his work at the UN, he served as Assistant to the President and Director of the Domestic Policy Council for the Executive Office of the President. He previously served as Policy Advisor and Counsel on Nominations for the Office of Senate Majority Leader. He also worked for the non-profit MITRE Corporation as a senior health policy-analyst and department manager, and for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Ambassador Bremberg earned a B.A. from Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio and a J.D. from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He and his wife Maria have four children and live in Virginia.

Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky is a foreign policy expert and former diplomat specializing in national security affairs. She is a Senior Fellow in the Future of Diplomacy Project at Harvard University’s JFK Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and is Vice Chair of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security (Atlantic Council). Her father, the Honorable Lev E. Dobriansky, was a Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.

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Daniel Garrett, Ph.D.

Dr. Daniel Garrett is an author, photographer, political scientist, and visual sociologist documenting Chinese security politics and securitization of Hong Kong. He has a nearly 20 year engagement with the city and is a photographic contributor to Hong Kong Free Press. Since 2011, he has documented over 600 demonstrations, marches, protests, and rallies and several elections in the Special Administrative Region (SAR). Most recently, he spent five weeks in the territory observing and photographing political developments surrounding the 30th Anniversary of the Tinanamen Square Massacre, the 22nd Anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR, and the historic anti-extradition Liberate Hong Kong protests. A doctoral graduate of City University of Hong Kong, Garrett’s dissertation investigated the power politics of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ under the People’s Republic’s new National Security with Chinese Characteristics framework and the escalating conflicts between China and Hong Kong. His first book, Counter-Hegemonic Resistance in China’s Hong Kong: Visualizing Protest in the City, interrogated the Region’s Pre-Umbrella Revolution protest culture. A second monograph, investigating Chinese and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s enemification and securitzation of Hong Kong protests and protesters, and related regime militarization of SAR protest policing in the post-Umbrella-era is in process.

Myroslava Gongadze

Myroslava Gongadze is Chief at Voice of America’s Ukrainian service. She is an award winning journalist and a champion for democracy and independent media. In addition to her work at the Voice of America, Gongadze often speaks as a subject matter expert in various forums discussing politics, democratization and media in Ukraine. She periodically contributes to NPR and her writing has been published in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR and Journal of Democracy. Equipped with the law degree from Lviv State University, Myroslava has extensive experience in journalism and public relations. She has worked as a journalist, editor, producer and public relations officer in Ukraine and the US for several political and media organizations, including RFE/RL, Internews, IRI, NDI. Gongadze has been awarded a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellowship to study the role of the media in Ukraine's transition to democracy (2001) and George Washington University Petrac foundation scholarship (2003). In 2019 Myroslava completed her study at Harvard University as Nieman fellow. For her outstanding contribution to the development of journalism, active civic stance and professional excellence, Gongadze received Princess Olha Order, a Ukrainian civil decoration bestowed on women of outstanding personal merit.

Milda Mataciunaite-Boyce

Milda Mataciunaite-Boyce is Director of Fellowship Programs at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC), where she leads VOC’s fellowship programs, engaging and supporting research scholars and emerging experts in the fields dedicated to work related to the history of communism, post-communist transition, and the legacy and impact of communism in current affairs. Previously Ms. Boyce served as Director of Transatlantic Leadership at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), where she led CEPA’s transatlantic fellowship programs, strengthening the Institute’s commitment to developing the next generation of emerging leaders based on transatlantic values and principles. Her expertise includes public diplomacy, strategic communication, transatlantic relations, and Baltic security strategy and foreign policy. Ms. Boyce holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a Minor in Russian language from the University of Tennessee with a focus on International Relations. She studied communications and information science at Vilnius University, Lithuania. Previously, she worked at the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Washington, DC. She speaks fluent Lithuanian, Russian, and is proficient in French.

Kristina Olney is the Director of Government Relations for the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) and leads VOC’s engagement with U.S. federal and state policymakers, embassies, and advocacy initiatives with human rights allies and captive nations constituencies. Kristina regularly advises executive branch officials, Members of Congress and their staff, state lawmakers, and global human rights bodies and liaises with diplomatic officials and advocacy allies. From 2014 to 2017, Kristina served as the Director of Government Relations of In Defense of Christians, an organization she helped establish dedicated to the protection and preservation of religious minorities in the Middle East. Kristina led the grassroots advocacy initiatives with diaspora constituencies from dozens of U.S. states and policy initiatives with allies which directly led to the recognition of the ISIS genocide against Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities by the U.S. government. Prior to directing human rights advocacy for nonprofit organizations, Kristina worked on foreign affairs and religious freedom issues on Capitol Hill for two years. She helped direct the government relations efforts for the federal U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and prior to that served in Congress as a House Foreign Affairs Committee Fellow for Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ).

Ambassador Martin Palouš

Ambassador Martin Palouš was the Czech Ambassador to the United States (2001-2005) prior to taking office as the Czech Republic’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (2006-2011). He has also served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Czech Republic, and, before that, Czechoslovakia. One of the first signatories of Charter 77, he was a founding member of the Civic Forum and was elected in 1990 to the Czechoslovak Federal Assembly, where he served as a member of the foreign affairs committee. Ambassador Palouš is currently director of the Václav Havel Program for Human Rights and Diplomacy at Florida International University and is also a member of the Prague Society for International Cooperation, a respected NGO that aims for the development of a new generation of responsible and well-informed leaders and thinkers.

Dr. Elizabeth Edwards Spalding is Senior Fellow at the Pepperdine University School of Public Policy. In addition to serving as Vice Chairman of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation’s (VOC) Board of Trustees, she is a core faculty member in VOC’s National Seminar for Middle and High School Educators. Spalding is the author of The First Cold Warrior: Harry Truman, Containment, and the Remaking of Liberal Internationalism, the co-author of A Brief History of the Cold War, and currently at work on a history of world communism. She has taught on subjects ranging from U.S. foreign policy, national security, and international relations to presidential leadership, religion, and politics at Pepperdine University, Claremont McKenna College, George Mason University, and Catholic University of America. A frequent lecturer on U.S. foreign policy, the presidency, communism, and the Cold War, Spalding holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in international politics and political theory from the University of Virginia and a B.A. in political science from Hillsdale College. A third-generation anticommunist, she lives with her family in Arlington, VA.

Rosa María Payá is a Cuban human rights and democracy activist and the daughter of slain Cuban democracy activist Oswaldo Payá, recipient of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation's Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom. She is a graduate of the University of Havana and Georgetown University’s Global Competitive Leadership Program. She is the founder of Cuba Decide, a grassroots campaign to foster democracy in Cuba, and president of the Latin American Youth Network for Democracy, which aims to strengthen, defend, and consolidate democracy throughout the region. She has spoken at many forums including the UN Human Rights Council, the Oslo Freedom Forum, and the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy. She has met with heads of state, members of parliament, and civic and spiritual leaders around the world. People en Español named her one of the most powerful Latina women of 2014. In 2018, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation released an episode of its Witness Project video series in which Rosa María shares her father’s story and describes what his legacy means for her generation of freedom-loving Cubans.

Lisa Peterson joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1989. She joined the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in December 2020. On January 20, 2021, she began serving as the Senior Official for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights (J) and Acting Assistant Secretary for DRL. She served as Ambassador to the Kingdom of Eswatini (Swaziland) from 2016 to 2020. Prior to this current assignment, she served as Director for the Office of Multilateral and Global Affairs in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor from 2012 to 2015. From 2009 until the summer of 2012, Lisa served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Yaounde, Cameroon. Prior to that, she served in political, public affairs and consular positions in Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Zaire/Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, and the Central African Republic. Other Washington assignments have been in the Bureau of African Affairs, where she was Deputy Director in the Office of Central African Affairs, and in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, where she was an analyst for Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru. Her political work has included tracking democratic transitions, monitoring human rights issues, following refugee issues, and supporting peace negotiations in DRC, Sudan, and Somalia. As DCM in Cameroon, she coordinated the efforts of five agencies to initiate a PEPFAR county operational plan.

Dr. Carlos Ponce is the Senior Fellow and Director of Latin American Programs at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. Previously, he was director for Latin American programs at Freedom House and the General Coordinator of the Latin American and Caribbean Network for Democracy. Dr. Ponce also serves as Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Nonprofit Management for the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University and as Lecturer for the M.A. in NGO Management Program at Johns Hopkins University. He oversees research efforts in several fields including political science, international affairs, anticorruption, human rights, civil society empowerment, and democratic governance and is author and editor of numerous academic studies, policy papers, and special reports. His career has been dedicated to the strengthening of civil society, developing mechanisms to protect human rights leaders, and strengthening democracies throughout Latin America. He earned his Ph.D. in law and policy at Northeastern University, M.A. in urban and environmental policy and planning at Tufts University, M.S. in environmental law at Vermont Law School, and JD/Lawyer at Universidad Catolica Andres Bello (UCAB). He has been published in numerous places including USA Today, Fox News, Miami Herald, and CNN.

Suzanne Scholte, Ph.D.

Dr. Suzanne K. Scholte is considered one of the world’s leading activists in the North Korea human rights movement having worked for over 18 years to promote the freedom, human rights, and dignity of the North Korean people. Scholte began a program in 1996, to host the first North Korean defectors in the United States to speak out about the atrocities being committed against the people of North Korea including the political prison camps and the horrific treatment of refugees. She has led international efforts to pressure China to end their horrific repatriation policy and has been involved in the rescue of hundreds of North Koreans escaping from North Korea. Currently, she serves as President of the Defense Forum Foundation; Chairman, North Korea Freedom Coalition; Vice-Chairman of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea; and Honorary Chairman of Free North Korea Radio. Scholte is a graduate of the College of William and Mary and received an Honorary Doctorate in education from Koshin University.

David Smolansky

David Smolansky is the former mayor of El Hatillo municipality in Caracas, Venezuela. He is currently living in exile and is a visiting scholar at Georgetown University. Smolansky was removed from office by the Maduro administration, disqualified from any public administration role, and has a warrant out for his arrest. He was forced to flee from Venezuela after 35 days in hiding, in which he faced more than 35 checkpoints until he finally reached Brazil. Smolansky is one of the best-known young Venezuelan politicians, and was a vital member of the student movement that defeated Hugo Chávez’s constitutional reform proposal in 2007. Elected as the youngest mayor in Venezuela, his administration decreased kidnapping rates in El Hatillo, making the municipality one of the most secure and transparent in the country. Smolansky is also a founding member and Deputy Secretary General of Voluntad Popular, one of the main opposition political parties led by Leopoldo López. In 2015, he was recognized by Junior Chamber International as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World. Smolansky also received the Global Impact Award from Georgetown University in 2018. A journalism graduate from the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, he holds an M.A. in political science from the Universidad Simón Bolívar and participated in the Global Competitiveness Leadership Program at Georgetown University.

John Suarez is a human rights activist and the Executive Director at the Center for a Free Cuba. Suarez was a program officer for Latin America Programs at Freedom House. He has been interviewed by TV, radio, and print media on Cuba. He holds degrees from Florida International University and Spain’s Universidad Francisco de Vitoria. He has testified before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington, D.C., the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, and served as an interpreter for Cuban dissidents in Congressional hearings. Since 2009 he has maintained the blog, Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter.

Brian Whitmore

Brian Whitmore is an Adjunct Assistant Professor and Russia Specialist at University of Texas-Arlington McDowell Center for Global Studies and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center in Washington D.C. He is also the founder and author of The Power Vertical Blog and host of The Power Vertical Podcast, both of which focus on Russian affairs. From April 2018 to July 2020, he worked as Russian Program Director at the Center for European Policy Analysis. Whitmore also worked as Senior Russia Analyst for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), where he was employed for 11 years from 2007-17. Prior to joining RFE/RL, Whitmore worked as a foreign correspondent for The Boston Globe in Moscow and in Prague. He has worked as a graduate lecturer in the Department of Government and International Studies at the University of South Carolina, and as a visiting lecturer in the History Faculty at Mechnikov National University in Odessa, Ukraine and the International Relations Faculty at St. Petersburg State University in Russia. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The New Republic, Foreign Policy, World Politics Review, Newsweek, and elsewhere. He has appeared as a guest commentator on CNN, the BBC World Service, NPR, Bloomberg, and various other media. A native of New Haven, Connecticut, Whitmore earned an MA in Political Science from Villanova University in 1987 and BA in Politics from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia in 1986.

Jianli Yang is a scholar and democracy activist internationally recognized for his efforts to promote democracy in China. Yang is a recipient of numerous international human rights awards, including the 2013 Truman-Reagan Freedom Medal from the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. He has been involved in the Chinese democracy movement since the 1980s. He participated in the 1989 Tiananmen protests and co-authored the Constitution of a Federal Democratic China. He holds PhDs in mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley and in political economy from Harvard University. In 2002, Yang returned to China to support the labor movement and was imprisoned for five years. Following his release and his subsequent return to the U.S., Yang founded Initiatives for China, a.k.a. Citizen Power for China, an organization that promotes China’s peaceful transition to democracy. In March, 2010 Yang co-chaired the Committee on Internet Freedom at the Geneva Human Rights and Democracy Summit. In December 2010, Yang represented Liu Xiaobo at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. In December 2011, Yang joined H.H. Dalai Lama and four other delegates to attend Forum 2000, hosted by former Czech president Václav Havel.