The Twilight Zone w/drums

Dr. Charlton McIlwain

Vice Provost & Professor, New York University
Founder, Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies

Charlton is the Vice Provost and Professor at New York University, and author of “Black Software: The Internet & Racial Justice, From the AfroNet to Black Lives Matter.” He founded the Center for Critical Race and Digital Studies. His recent work focuses on the intersections of race, digital media, and racial justice activism.

Ms. Vani Saraswathi

Associate Editor and Director of Projects, Migrant-Rights.org

Vani Saraswathi is the Associate Editor and Director of Projects, Migrant-Rights.org, and the author of Stories of Origin: The Invisible Lives of Migrants in the Gulf. Vani moved to Qatar in 1999, working with several local and regional publications, and launching some of Qatar’s leading periodicals during her 17-year stint there. During her stay in Qatar she, along with likeminded people, mobilized a grassroots community to help migrants in distress. She also reported regularly on human rights issues in Qatar for publications in India.

Since 2014, in her role with Migrant-Rights.org, she reports from the Gulf states and countries of origin. She also organizes advocacy projects and human rights training targeting individual employers, embassies, recruitment agents, and businesses in Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and UAE, working with nationals and longterm residents in these countries. A special emphasis is on female migrants, including domestic workers. Much of her advocacy effort is geared towards mainstreaming issues facing female migrant workers. She is a member of the Migration Advisory Group (previous Policy Advisory Committee) of ILO ROAS. She has worked with ILO Addis Ababa on training modules for labor attaches being deployed to the Gulf states. She contributes as an expert commentator on issues related to human rights in the GCC for various international publications and at international forums, including various UN forums.

Migrant-Rights.org is a one of its kind bi-lingual content based advocacy platform that focusses on the GCC states and the corridors of migration, Asia & Africa. It was started 16 years ago by activist Esra’a El Shafei. Vani divides her time between Qatar, other GCC states, and India.

Hon. Samantha Power

Professor of Practice, Harvard University

Ambassador Samantha Power served as the US Ambassador to the United Nations from 2013-2017, and as human rights advisor to President Barack Obama on the National Security Council from 2009-2013. Power won the Pulitzer Prize for her book “A Problem from Hell”: America in the Age of Genocide. Her newest book is the New York Times bestseller The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir, about her life in Ireland, her immigrant experience in the US, and her career as a war correspondent, human rights advocate, and diplomat. Currently she is on the faculty at Harvard Law School and Harvard Kennedy School.

Hon. Sue Gordon

Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Sue has previously served as Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. She has also served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Information Operations Center and senior cyber advisor to the Director of the CIA.

Lt.Gen. Vince Stewart

Former Director, Defense Intelligence Agency

Vince served as a lieutenant general in the United States Marine Corps who most recently served as Deputy Commander at United States Cyber Command. He previously served as the 20th Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Mr. Chris Inglis

Former Deputy Director, National Security Agency

Chris has served over 41 years of federal service in the Department of Defense including 28 years at the National Security Agency and over seven years as its Deputy Director. He began his career at NSA as a computer scientist within the National Computer Security Center followed by tours in information assurance, policy, time-sensitive operations, and signals intelligence organizations.

Mr. Robert Cardillo

President, The Cardillo Group

Robert became the sixth Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in 2014. Prior to leading the NGA, Cardillo served as the first Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Intelligence Integration.

Ms. Jacinta González

Senior Campaign Organizer, Mijente

Jacinta is the Senior Campaign Organizer at Mijente. She previously worked at PODER (Project on Organizing, Development, Education, and Research) in Mexico. She was the lead organizer for the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice Congress of Day Laborers.

Ms. Paromita Shah

Executive Director, Just Futures Law

Paromita is a leader in the immigrants’ rights movement. She has created or helped produce dozens of resources and reports for immigrant communities impacted by policing and immigration enforcement, including detainer policies and technology surveillance.

Dr. Desi Rodriguez-Lonebear

Co-Founder, United States Indigenous Data Sovereignty Network
Assistant Professor, University of California, Los Angeles

Desi’s interests are social demography, race and ethnicity, and social stratification. She was raised on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana where she previously ran for her Tribal Council. She is an appointed adviser to the Director of the United States Census Bureau as a member of the National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations.

Ms. Aaina Agarwal

Director of Policy & Partnerships, Algorithmic Justice League

Aaina is an AI & Human Rights Consultant, formerly one of the first members of the Artificial Intelligence/ Machine Learning team at the World Economic Forum. She is a human rights lawyer by training, having received a Masters of Law focused on Tech Policy & Human Rights at NYU.

Mr. Andrew Young

Knowledge Director, The GovLab and Responsible Data for Children

Young is the Knowledge Director at The GovLab, where he leads research efforts focusing on the impact of technology on public institutions. He has authored or co-authored a number of extended works on new approaches for improving governance with technology. He is also the Network Coordinator of the GovLab-chaired MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Opening Governance.

Mr. Mark Bromley

Chair, Council for Global Equality

Mark helped launch the Council for Global Equality to encourage a clearer and stronger American voice on international LGBT and intersex human rights concerns. In 2016, he provided the first-ever testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the state of LGBT rights around the world. Today, Mr. Bromley and his colleagues provide regular briefings on trends impacting LGBT individuals globally. He also monitors the U.N. human rights system and has conducted research on sexual violence as a war crime.

Mr. Steve Feldstein

Incoming Senior Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Steve has served as a deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of State, where he had responsibility for Africa policy, international labor affairs, and international religious freedom. Previously he was the director of the office of policy at the U.S. Agency for International Development, and also served as counsel on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, where he oversaw U.S. foreign assistance programs, and international organizations.

Mr. Mustafa Qadri

Founder and Executive Director, Equidem Research & Consulting

Mustafa Qadri is the Founder and Executive Director of Equidem Research and Consulting. He is a human rights research and advocacy expert with over 15 years of experience in government and public international law, journalism and the non-governmental sector. He is the author of several landmark human rights reports into the construction industry, civil and political rights issues, and media freedom, and has carried out human rights investigations in several countries.