Together they discuss: why Brandon wrote the book, his reasons for choosing the title, different interpretations of Martin Luther King Jr’s role., the different narratives of the Civil Rights movement including the romantic view, the afro-pessimist view, and Brandon’s tragic vision that he lays out in the book, and Brandon’s reflections on the current state of politics in the United States.

Brandon M. Terry is John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University and Co-director of the Institute on Policing, Incarceration, and Public Safety at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. He is the coeditor, with Tommie Shelby, of “To Shape a New World: Essays on the Political Philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr.” and editor of “Fifty Years Since MLK.” Terry has published work in Modern Intellectual History, Political Theory, The New York Review of Books, Time, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Boston Review, Dissent, The Point, and New Labor Forum and been interviewed by The Ezra Klein Show, Vox, the New York Times, and other media outlets.

“Shattered Dreams, Infinite Hope: A Tragic Vision of the Civil Rights Movement” is available from Harvard University Press: https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674271289

White Paper: The Need for and Feasibility of an International AI Bill of Human Rights By Professor Yuval Shany

Dr. Kelsey Leonard is a water scientist, legal scholar, policy expert, writer, and enrolled citizen of the Shinnecock Nation. Her work focuses on Indigenous water justice and its climatic, territorial, and governance underpinnings for our shared sustainable future. Dr. Leonard represents the Shinnecock Nation on the Mid-Atlantic Committee on the Ocean, which is charged with protecting America's ocean ecosystems and coastlines. She also serves as a member of the Great Lakes Water Quality Board of the International Joint Commission. Dr. Leonard has been instrumental in safeguarding the interests of Indigenous Nations for environmental planning, and builds Indigenous science and knowledge into new solutions for sustainable water and ocean governance.

On today’s episode they discuss: water as an essential part of life, the Shinnecock Indian Nation, Indigenous led water justice movements, current challenges facing water defenders, how a human rights frameworks can be applied to water protection, Indigenous knowledge as integral for effective water management, the Great Lakes and indigenous governance, and Dr. Leonard’s current research.

Judith has been at the forefront of some of the most pressing human rights issues of our time, immersed in the pursuit of justice internationally, the promotion and protection of human rights, and the betterment of the human condition. She has made representations to international bodies and governments in relation to the rescue and resettlement of some of the most vulnerable and at-risk populations, political prisoner cases, and asylum seeker applications. Judith’s advocacy work has encompassed, inter alia, the case and cause of Biram Dah Abeid, leader of the international anti-slavery movement and president of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement in Mauritania; Dawit Isaak, dual Eritrean-Swedish citizen known to be, with his colleagues, the longest detained journalists in the world; and a series of Burundian journalists and human rights defenders convicted on trumped-up charges for criticizing the government. Judith has also written for major publications including the National Post, the Globe and Mail, the Times of Israel, the Washington Post, and Time.

On today’s episode they discuss: how Judith came to be involved in such a wide range of geopolitical contexts, the case of journalist Dawit Isaak who has been detained since 2001 in an Eritrean prison and what it says about the state of press freedom globally, what levers of accountability are most effective in working for release of political prisoners, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s imprisonment of Dr. Ahmadreza Jalal, the issue of modern slavery and why it persists despite international law, the balance of moral urgency and pragmatic strategy in human rights work, and Judith’s personal reflections on cultivating resilience in an increasingly restrictive world.

Lobsang Sangay is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the East Asian Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School. He was the democratically elected Sikyong (President) of the Central Tibetan Administration and served two terms (2011-21). He completed his BA and LLB from Delhi University and did his LLM ’95 and SJD ‘04 from Harvard Law School where he received the Yong K. Kim’ 95 Memorial Prize for excellence. He has spoken at international conferences such as Forum 2000, Halifax Security Forum, and Oxford Union and has written numerous Op-eds in major newspapers including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and appeared on many international TV networks like BBC and CNN. He was awarded the Gold Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Public Discourse by Trinity College, Dublin (2014) and the Salisbury University Presidential Medal for Distinguished Community Leadership (2015).

On today’s episode they discuss: why China occupied Tibet in 1950, the role of rare earth minerals in the occupation, what occupation and exile has meant for Tibetans, the role of the Dalai Lama and the naming of his successor, how reincarnation comes into play in finding the next Dalai Lama, China’s attempt to seize control of the process, Lobsang’s own role in the Tibetan government in exile in India, the interplay between the diaspora and those remaining in Tibet, the relationship between the exiled Tibetan government and the government of India, and the Dalai Lama’s aspiration towards a middle path for negotiations with China.

Lisa Chung Binder is the executive director of the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack. She has worked for the UN and the international NGOs in children’s rights and humanitarian response.

Siraj Khan is the law and policy manager at the Education Above All Foundation. He is an international lawyer and was formerly a fellow at the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law.

Jerome Marston is the head of research at KoboToolBox–a data collection, management, and visualization platform used globally for research and social good–where he oversees surveys and research projects about human rights, humanitarian response, and the protection of civilians.

Together they discuss: why attacks on education are occurring, the impact on victims and survivors of these attacks, the frequency and geographic location of these attacks, what factors contribute to the increase in these attacks, what international enforcement mechanisms exist and are they meeting the problem, what other initiatives are taking place to confront this issue, what are the legal resources in this area, accountability, the response from educators, what does justice look like for victims, concrete ways to make schools more safe, and what resources can provide more information on this topic.

Together they discuss: what Human Rights Day means in our current moment globally, the most pressing human rights issues today, misinformation and state repression, whether the international system can constrain abusive states, the state of global legal structures and local grassroots movements, designing a human rights system to meet our present challenges, the impact of the Trump administration globally, what advice they have for young people entering the field today, and a lighting round of questions including their recommendations for articles and books they think everyone should read.

Today’s guests include:

Desirée Cormier Smith, a seasoned U.S. diplomat and former Foreign Service Officer who served as the inaugural Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice at the State Department, leading global efforts to advance racial, ethnic, and Indigenous rights in foreign-policy contexts.

Maggie Dougherty, former Senior Director for International Organizations at the White House National Security Council, where she coordinated U.S. engagement with the UN and other multilateral institutions on human rights, democracy, and global governance. She has also served as a policy advisor to both UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and Senator Marco Rubio.

Kelly Fay Rodríguez, previously the U.S. Special Representative for International Labor Affairs, working to embed labor rights, supply-chain accountability, and inclusive economic justice into American foreign-policy and trade frameworks.

And Jessica Stern, the first, and thus far only, U.S. Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons, who led the State Department’s diplomatic efforts to protect and promote LGBTQI+ rights around the world.

A human rights attorney and interdisciplinary social scientist on the issue of climate-forced displacement, Robin Bronen retired from AIJ in 2024 after 19 years as co-founder and Executive Director. Established in 2005, AIJ originally sought to serve an unmet need for legal services for immigrant individuals and families in Alaska and now serves over 7,000 clients living in Alaska from countries around the world. Since the time of the organization’s founding, AIJ expanded to launch the Alaska Climate Justice Program that works with Alaska Native communities on climate adaptation and resilience, including assisting clients and communities as they advocate for state and national policy-level changes. Bronen has worked with the White House Council on Environmental Quality to implement President Obama’s Climate Change Task Force recommendation to address climate displacement as well as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Climate Change Office. The Federal Bureau of Investigation awarded AIJ the 2012 FBI Director’s Community Service award for its work with human trafficking victims, and the International Soroptimist’s awarded Bronen the 2012 Advancing the Rights of Women award. Bronen was named one of USA Today’s Women of the Year.

On this episode they discuss: the recent increase in climate effects on Alaskan communities, Robin’s background that led her to co-founding AIJ, an overview of the immigrant and refugee communities that are a central part of Alaska, how she and her team managed to sustain the non-profit over multiple decades, why translation services are crucial to opening access to public services, Robin’s research on forced climate relocation that led AIJ to expand its focus to the impacts of the climate crisis, the status and make up of Native Alaskan communities, how has the connection between human rights and climate change became central to AIJ’s work, how the institute fairing under the current Trump administration, what actions individuals and communities can take to protect themselves, and why climate forced relocation is the most intense human rights challenge related to the climate crisis.

Antonio Ingram II serves as lead counsel in the Simon v. Ivey lawsuit challenging Alabama's SB 129 law that prevents state agencies, local boards of education, and institutions of higher education from sponsoring DEI programs or offices. He served as part of the litigation team in South Carolina NAACP v. Alexander, a federal lawsuit challenging South Carolina's racially discriminatory congressional and state house legislative map. Ingram co-authored a US Supreme Court amicus brief in 303 Creative v. Ellenis, where he opposed intersectional anti-black and anti-LGBTQIA + public accommodations discrimination. In addition to his litigation work, he has successfully engaged in policy advocacy and spearheaded campaigns at the state and national level to oppose legislation banning critical race theory and DEI.

On today’s episode they discuss: his work on advancing racial justice and educational equity, his involvement in significant legal cases challenging discriminatory laws and practices, the impact of anti-DEI legislation - particularly Alabama's SB 129 - and its broader implications on educational and societal equity, his personal insights on the importance of maintaining open pipelines for marginalized communities, and the role of local and state advocacy in combating these legislative challenges.

Prior to joining the ICC in 2012, Judge Eboe-Osuji was the Legal Advisor to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, during which time he anchored the High Commissioner's interventions in cases involving human rights questions. Before joining the international public service, he practiced law as a barrister in Canada (his adoptive country) and Nigeria (his birth country). He taught international criminal law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ottawa and has an extensive record of legal scholarship and publications, including the books International Law and Sexual Violence in Armed Conflicts (2013), and Protecting Humanity (2010). He is a former fellow at the Carr Ryan Center for Human Rights at the Harvard Kennedy School.

On today’s episode they discuss: his journey that led him to becoming president of the ICC, why he felt it was important to write a book about the history of immunity for heads of state, his thoughts on the 2024 US Supreme Court ruling to grant immunity to US presidents, looking to the kings and emperors of the past to understand why we built international systems ending immunity, how we could enact an international law that upholds an actionable “right to peace”, and his view on Trump’s desire to annex of Canada.

Leo Varadkar grew up in Dublin, the son of an Irish mother and an Indian father. He studied medicine at Trinity College Dublin, but practiced as a doctor for just a short time before becoming a full-time politician after election to Dáil Éireann (the Irish parliament) in 2007. He became a cabinet minister in 2011 and in 2017, at the age of 38, he became Taoiseach, the youngest ever to serve in the office. A first of many in the role, he was the first gay Taoiseach as well the first person of color. Dr. Varadkar received international recognition for his leadership of Ireland’s public health and economic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. He led Ireland through Brexit, preventing a hard border between North and South, maintaining Ireland's place at the heart of the European Union, its single market and upholding the Good Friday Agreement. The Governments he participated in lifted Ireland’s ban on abortion and improved LGBT rights including the introduction of marriage equality and a gender recognition law. He also prioritized equality between men and women including gender pay gap reporting, greater diversity on state and corporate boards and linking state funding for political parties to election candidate quotas. He is currently a Hauser Leader at the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School as well as a Senior Fellow at the Global LGBTQI + Human Rights Program at the Carr Ryan Center for Human Rights.

On today’s episode they discuss: what are some of the greatest challenges to global human rights today, Dr. Varadkar’s childhood that led him to his career in politics, how the Irish political system compares to the structures in the United States, the trust and personal relationships at the center of keeping together a coalition government, the challenges and burdens of being a “first” as Taoiseach, his experience coming out as gay in office and navigating that politically, the storytelling at the heart of the campaign to pass the referendum on marriage equality , where the passage of marriage equality in a catholic country sits globally in LGBTQI, coming from a center-right party in Ireland and presiding over many progressive changes, his view on the strategic tension between incrementalism and sweeping change, how his medical practice influenced his governance, Ireland’s history as a post-colonial nation and its current connection to oppressed peoples around the world, his thoughts on solidarity, Irish reunification, and why he named his new memoir "Speaking My Mind".

A 2022 Guggenheim Fellow and 2022 Carnegie Fellow, Dr. Blain is one of the most innovative and influential young historians of her generation. An award-winning historian of the 20th century United States with broad interests and specializations in African-American history, the modern African diaspora, and women and gender studies, she completed her PhD in history from Princeton University in 2014 and in 2020 she was a fellow at the Carr Ryan Center. A former columnist for MSNBC, Dr. Blain is now the editor-in-chief of “Global Black Thought”, a journal featuring original, innovative, and thoroughly researched essays on black ideas, theories, and intellectuals in the United States and throughout the African diaspora. In addition to her latest book, Dr. Blain is the author of the book, “Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom, “Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer's Enduring Message to America”, and “Wake Up America: Black Women on the Future of Democracy”.

On today’s episode they discuss: what led her to write about the contributions of black female leaders to the foundations of human rights, how these figures understood human rights at the time, how they built networks and created what we know of as the human rights movement today, what particular strategies stood out in her research, as well as a few case studies from the founding of this international movement.

Ken Roth was executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) from 1993 to 2022. In the three decades under his leadership, Human Rights Watch conducted investigations in over 100 countries to uncover abuses, and pressured offending governments to stop them. In his new book, Roth writes about grappling with the worst of humanity, taking on the biggest villains of our time, and persuading leaders from around the globe to stand up to their repressive counterparts. He is currently the Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor at the Princeton School for Public and International Affairs.

In this episode they discuss: why he wrote “Righting Wrongs”, the nature of HRW’s investigations and a few case studies from his tenure, his own German Jewish family’s exodus from Germany during Nazi rule, his personal journey that lead him to the idea of human rights, his views on China in regards to human rights, what advice he has for new people entering the field, the online trolling of HRW for its reporting on human rights abuses by the Israeli Government, his views on anti-semitism and the lessons of the Holocaust, the differences between the Biden and Trump administration’s foreign policy, as well as his perspective on what constitutes genocide and the ongoing atrocities in Gaza.

Ken Roth's new book is availble here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/739898/righting-wrongs-by-kenneth-roth/

Anna Romandash is an award-winning journalist from Ukraine and an author of “Women of Ukraine: Reportages from the War and Beyond” (2023). She has spent years documenting human rights violations, digital threats, and misinformation from her reporting on the ground in Ukraine. Currently a Technology and Human Rights Fellow at the Carr-Ryan Center, her work focuses on making technology more inclusive and digitalizing democracy to better the lives of people in developing democracies.

In this episode they discuss: the use and limits of journalism in reporting, how emergency services are managing under Russian bombardment, the impact of misinformation on the funding coming into Ukraine, where to access truthful information from outside the country, the imperative of journalists being on the ground, the effect of the shifting support of the US on morale in Ukraine, whether international systems are capable of holding Russia accountable, examples of the misinformation narratives pushed by Russia, the impact of AI in the misinformation war, the battle between democratic vs authoritarian systems, and what’s at risk if this war fades from attention.

Jessica Stern is one of the world’s most distinguished LGBTQI+ human rights leaders. Appointed by President Joe Biden, Stern served as the U.S. Special Envoy to Advance the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex Persons, where she led U.S. foreign policy efforts to combat violence and discrimination against LGBTQI+ people globally. She is also the former Executive Director of Outright International and a co-founder of the United Nations LGBTI Core Group.

In this episode they discuss: the current state of LGBTQI+ rights globally, her personal journey into activism, her role as the former US Special Envoy for LGBTQI+I Rights, her work with Outright International, the challenges and progress in the fight for equality, her response to recent criticism of LGBTQI+ Rights advocacy, the importance of allyship and the interconnectedness of human rights issues, the role of the UN independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity, and the ongoing struggles faced by LGBTQI+  individuals globally.

Yara Sallam is a prominent feminist activist and human rights defender who has worked for several Egyptian and international human rights organisations. She was awarded the North Africa Shield Award in 2013 for her work with Nazra for Feminist Studies and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. In 2020 she published Even the Finest of Warriors a book about how feminist activists manage different aspects of their private lives and concurrently deal with the difficulties of being in the public space. The book looks at case studies of female activists in Egypt and Tunisia dealing with aspects of psychological health, general exhaustion, financial security, as well as growing old.

In this episode’s conversation they discuss: what inspired her to write Even the Finest of Warriors, the impact of activism on well being, the personal and political intersections of activism, redefining resilience, building community and collective care, evolving perspectives on activism and aging, and Yara’s own resilience in this work.

Lex Zard is a legal scholar with expertise in the European Union digital policy regarding surveillance advertising. In 2024, Lex defended his thesis, 'Power & Dignity: The Ends of Online Behavioral Advertising', at Leiden University, where he also worked as a researcher and a teacher from 2018 to 2024 at eLaw—Center for Law and Digital Technologies. His research primarily addresses the boundaries of influencing humans in the online environment, including through interface design and artificial intelligence systems. Lex won the EURA Young Scholar award in 2019 for his work in these areas.

In this episode’s conversation Mathias and Lex discuss: the EU’s April 22nd decision to fine Meta two million dollars for violating the DMA, differences in digital regulatory approaches in the US and EU, the foundation of human dignity in the EU’s regulatory framework, whether the legal mechanisms in the EU and US see data protection as a human right or not, the consent or pay model, the global struggle between human rights and surveillance capitalism, Lex’s own research on online advertising governance, and his view of the transatlantic relationship. 

Professor Ferris is the co-founder and president of the board of Afghan Female Student Outreach (AFSO), a volunteer non-profit organization committed to helping return Afghan women to intellectual and professional life by way of real-time, synchronous distance learning in the liberal arts and sciences, engineering, and health sciences, taught by university professors from around the world. She is a novelist and Writer in Residence emerita from Trinity College, as well as the author of a dozen books of fiction and nonfiction. She did research for her work among the Pashtun area of northwest Pakistan and has been active with a number of charitable organizations, including the Authors Guild, Jewish Family Services, Planned Parenthood, the Brigid Foundation, and Women for Women International. She holds a Ph.D. from Tufts University. In addition to her work with AFSO, she teaches Afghan refugees in the United States.

In this episode’s conversation they discuss: the current state of women’s education in Afghanistan, the changes that took place prior to the most recent US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the origins of AFSO, the logistics of how volunteer professors from outside the country are able to deliver online education in a country with limited internet access, why continuing women’s education is so important for Afghan society even when their employment and formal education opportunities are being restricted by the Taliban, the impact of USAID’s closure on organizations educating women in Afghanistan, the changing role of the US in global education, and the resilience of female students in Afghanistan. 

Patrick began his career as a staff attorney at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, then went on to serve as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Clinton administration. From 2007 to 2015, he served as the governor of Massachusetts, the first Black person to serve in the role. During his two terms, Patrick focused on health care, public schools and public infrastructure, and launched initiatives stimulating clean energy and biotechnology, he also signed into law marriage equality rights in the State, as well as protections for transgender rights. He is currently a professor of practice and co-director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School.

 In this episode’s conversation they discuss: protecting marriage equality from future rollbacks, how personal relationships inform his perseverance on these issues, this moment politically for LGBTQI+ rights, engaging voters, and his thoughts on coalition building.

Shattuck is an international legal scholar, diplomat, human rights leader and former university president. From 1984-1993 he held the position at Harvard University of Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs, responsible for Harvard’s relations with government agencies, private institutions and the media. He then served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor under President Clinton from 1993-1998, and was later appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic from 1998-2000. In 2009 became the President and Rector of CEU in Budapest, a position he held until 2016.

On today’s episode they discuss: the history of CEU and it’s ties to George Soros, the circumstances under which he became President and Rector of CEU, the roots of Victor Orban’s authoritarianism and attack on CEU, similarities and differences between the Orban and Trump administrations clashes with universities, the ideological straitjacket imposed on universities by authoritarians , CEU’s current situation Austria and what remains in Budapest, and his assessment of what effect Trump’s will take on academia in the US.

Wai Wai has received many accolades over the last decade and has been named a Next Generation Leader by TIME, a World Economic Forum Young Global leader, and one of 100 top Women by BBC. Hana Seita is the research and advocacy coordinator at WPN and manages WPN’s human rights documentation, research, and international advocacy. Together they speak with Maggie about the work of WPN in Burma and abroad, their advocacy work in the U.S. Congress, the work of the Yangon Youth Center and their holistic vision of changing society, the Rohingya genocide, the current day-to-day life in Myanmar under the military rule, what future they see for Myanmar, and how those from abroad can take direct action to support their cause.

You can learn more about WPN at: https://www.womenspeacenetwork.org/

In today’s conversation, Albert discusses: walking the tactical line between radical change and instrumental victories, police surveillance technology, the risk of children’s privacy technology, anti-abortion digital surveillance, how STOP has taken on the NYPD’s surveillance system, and the ways in which Artificial Intelligence are already undermining civil rights.

Albert Fox Cahn's Ted Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVclObff6fc

Links mentioned in this episode:

• https://www.statista.com/chart/28353/democracies-and-autocracies-around-the-world/

Listen to Dr. Charity Clay's Hutchins Center Lecture on 'Systemic Police Terrorism: A Conceptual Framework', Part of the W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute Colloquium Series.

Professor McDougall has worked for decades on the frontlines of race, gender, and economic exploitation in the American context and in countries around the world. In this episode she discusses the function of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, her early years growing up in Jim Crow-era Georgia, working with Nelson Mandela, the impact of George Floyd’s murder, the Biden Administration’s policies on race, and what’s at stake in the upcoming 2024 US Presidential election. 

Phoung Pham is an Associate Professor in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a leading expert in the collection and evaluation of victim centered surveys in post-conflict societies. Geoff Dancy is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto who specializes in transitional justice and human rights accountability. Together they discuss the research of the Transitional Justice Program, along with numerous topics focused on evidence-based, victim-centered transitional justice and its implications for peace, democracy, and human rights around the world.  

Visit the Transitional Justice Evaluation Tools website for comparative data on human rights prosecutions, amnesties, truth commissions, reparations, and vetting policies around the world from 1970 to 2020.

https://transitionaljusticedata.org

The IACHR is a principle and autonomous body of the organization of American States that monitors human rights across the Americas. The hearing was requested by the Center for Reproductive Rights and 13 other US organizations focused on reproductive health rights and justice, disability rights, and human rights. In this conversation, Torres and Coral discuss the hearing, abortion as an essential human right, the Dobbs decision in the U.S., the feminist-led Legal and Social decriminalization of abortion in Latin America and its impact on the world, and the future of abortion rights in the U.S.

Karla Torres has been senior human rights counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights since 2017. She works within the U.S. Human Rights Team and collaborates with staff across various departments, including the U.S. Policy and Advocacy and U.S. Litigation teams, as well as the Center's Global Legal Program. Torres most recently served as a program officer at Equality Now, where she worked in close partnership with grassroots organizations in the Americas to expose human rights violations against women and girls and to promote legal frameworks that would protect against these violations.

Catalina Martinez Corral is a feminist from Cali, Colombia. She's currently the vice president for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Center for Reproductive Rights. She is a member of the Causa Justa Movement and one of the plaintiffs in the historic ruling that partially decriminalized abortion in Colombia.

Here's a list of the resources mentioned in this episode:

2022 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark by the World Benchmarking Alliance provides a comparative snapshot of 127 of the world’s largest and most influential companies in high-risk sectors. Their methodology considers companies’ policies, processes, and practices to obtain an overview of whether companies are implementing key expectations of the UNGPs. It also considers how companies would respond to serious human-rights-related allegations.

2021 Gender Benchmark by the World Benchmarking Alliance provides a comparative snapshot of 35 influential apparel companies on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

Fashion Transparency Index ranks 250 of the world’s largest fashion brands and retailers according to their level of public disclosure on human rights and environmental policies, practices, and impacts.

Between 2022-2023, Know the Chain benchmarked 185 companies from the information and communications technology, food and beverage, and apparel and footwear sectors looking specifically at forced labor risks in companies’ global supply chains.

Be Slavery Free’s Chocolate Scorecard ranks companies’ level of transparency, how they fare on paying workers a living income, whether they use child or forced labor, and their deforestation and climate impact, producing an overall ranking.

The UK Government runs a Modern Slavery Statement Registry. 

The Australian Government runs a Register for Modern Slavery Statements.

Before joining Freedom House in February 2017, he was director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Levine Institute for Holocaust Education. He led the museum’s genocide prevention efforts and later oversaw its public education programs.

He was previously National Editor and then White House correspondent for the Washington Post. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and former fellow at the German Marshall Fund and the Hoover Institution. A graduate of Harvard College, he is also a board member of the National Security Archive.

"Most Americans want to live up to our ideals of being a welcoming country…respecting human rights and human dignity for anyone who wants to come and work hard…Most people understand that this is good for the country...But we need to have political courage for this to happen."

About Malachy Browne: Malachy Browne is a senior story producer with The New York Times. He specializes in social journalism with a focus on international reporting and breaking news. https://www.nytimes.com/by/malachy-browne

About Sushma Raman, Executive Director of the Carr Center for Human Rights: https://carrcenter.hks.harvard.edu/people/sushma-raman

About Declarations Podcast: A show about human rights coming to you every week from the Cambridge Centre of Governance and Human Rights. Tune in each week as our panel explores the rights and wrongs of contemporary politics, joined by fascinating guests from the University of Cambridge and around the world. This episode features Declaration's Matthew Mahmoudi and Max Curtis.

More:@DeclarationsPod, based out of @CGHR_Cambridge, @malachybrowne, @carrcenter

Steven Livingston is Professor of Media and Public Affairs and International Affairs with appointments in the School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) and the Elliott School of International Affairs (ESIA) at the George Washington University. Livingston's research and teaching focus on media/information technology, national security and global politics. He is particularly interested in the role of information technologies and media on governance, development, accountability and human rights. Beginning in the fall of 2016, Livingston was appointed a Senior Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University.

Alberto J. Mora is a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, where he teaches and conducts research on issues related to human rights, foreign policy, and national security strategy.

Mora retired in August 2013 from Mars, Incorporated, which he joined in 2008 as Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel. During his tenure, he served as the senior legal advisor to the Board of Directors, the CEO, and the other members of the CEO’s corporate leadership team and had oversight and management responsibility for all Mars legal strategies, issues, matters, services and resources.

Mora’s career prior to joining Mars includes broad experience in the law, industry, and government. From 2001 to 2006, Mora served as the General Counsel of the Department of the Navy. As the chief legal officer for both the Navy and Marine Corps, he managed more than 640 attorneys and personnel across 146 offices throughout the United States and overseas and oversaw the Navy’s Judge Advocate General Corps and the Marine Corps Staff Judge Advocates. Additionally, he served as the Reporting Senior of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, as the Department’s Chief Ethics Officer and, on occasion, as Acting Secretary of the Navy. Earlier in his career, Mora also served in the U.S. State Department as a Foreign Service Officer and as General Counsel of the United States Information Agency in the George H.W. Bush administration. From 2006 to 2008, he served as General Counsel of Walmart International.

Mora holds a Bachelor’s degree and Honorary Doctorate from Swarthmore College and a law degree from the University of Miami School of Law. In 2014, he was an Advanced Leadership Fellow at Harvard University. A member of the Council of Foreign Relations, he sits on the Board of Directors of Human Rights First and Freedom House. In 2006, Mora was awarded the John F. Kennedy Memorial Foundation’s Profile in Courage Award in recognition of his opposition -- while serving as Navy General Counsel -- to the cruel interrogation of detainees in the post-9/11 period. His detainee-related activities at the Navy have been widely reported in periodicals, books and documentaries. In 2013, he was included in Mariana Cook’s book Justice as one of 99 individuals worldwide who has made a significant contribution to human rights.