NESRI: National Economic & Social Rights Initiative

	NESRI STAFF
	Catherine Albisa Executive Director Ms. Albisa is a constitutional and human rights lawyer with a background on the right to health. Ms. Albisa also has significant experience working in partnership with community organizers in the use of human rights standards to strengthen advocacy in the United States. She co-founded NESRI along with Sharda Sekaran and Liz Sullivan in order to build legitimacy for human rights in general, and economic and social rights in particular, in the United States. She is committed to a community-centered and participatory human rights approach that is locally anchored, but universal and global in its vision. Ms. Albisa clerked for the Honorable Mitchell Cohen in the District of New Jersey. She received a BA from the University of Miami and is a graduate of Columbia Law School.
	Katherine L. Caldwell Human Right to Work with Dignity Program Director Ms. Caldwell has a background in human rights advocacy and U.S. litigation. Her work at NESRI currently focuses on supporting the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and its Fair Food Campaign aimed at transforming human rights conditions in the agricultural sector. Ms. Caldwell was formerly a consulting attorney at the Human Rights Institute at Columbia Law School, where she continues to serve as an adjunct faculty member. Ms. Caldwell is a former associate of the law firm Allen & Overy LLP and a former law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and for the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Ms. Caldwell received a BA from Brown University, a Masters in History from the University of Chicago, and a JD from Columbia Law School.
	Tiffany M. Gardner Human Right to Housing Program Director Ms. Gardner has a background in human rights advocacy and corporate law. She has worked on human rights issues and grassroots organizing throughout Africa, Southeast Asia and the United States. Ms. Gardner has published several articles on issues of social justice and global inclusion. Her most recent publication is an article entitled "Human Rights Based Approaches in State Development Programming" in Education and Poverty in an International Context that was published by Columbia University Teachers College She serves as an independent expert on the UN Advisory Group on Forced Evictions. She is a former associate at the New York law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. She received a BA from Yale University, a JD from New York University School of Law and a LL.M. in human rights law from Columbia University Law School.
	Laura Gosa Development and Resource Network Director Ms. Gosa develops a broad base of support for NESRI working with our foundation partners and individual supporters. Ms. Gosa joined NESRI soon after its founding, and has been integral to its growth. Ms. Gosa has extensive experience with event planning and donor education, as well as a substantive background on economic and social rights issues, in particular with regard to Haiti. Before joining NESRI, Ms. Gosa also interned at Human Rights Watch in the Americas Division, and provided support to the HIV/AIDS and Children’s Rights Divisions. During that time she successfully wrote a Hellman-Hammett grant for a persecuted Haitian radio journalist. Her previous internship experience includes a position at the National Coalition for Haitian Rights. She holds a BA in French and European Studies and a Masters in International Studies, both from the University of Kansas.
	Anja Rudiger Human Right to Health Program Director (A joint program run by NESRI and the National Health Law Program.) Ms. Rudiger works with state-based coalitions to develop human rights approaches and tools for health care reform efforts. She is an expert on human rights and equality, specializing in policy analysis of disparities in the exercise of civic, economic and social rights. She has extensive experience integrating a rights-based approach to policymaking at local, national and international level. Previously, Ms. Rudiger carried out consultancies for governmental and non-governmental organizations, led the research department at the British Refugee Council in London, and managed the UK Secretariat of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Kiel in Germany.
	Liz Sullivan Human Right to Education Program Director Ms. Sullivan works with parents and advocates to promote policy change in public education to guarantee students’ right to dignity and a quality education. She has carried out research projects to document human rights violations in U.S. public schools, and has provided trainings to parents, youth and organizers about how to incorporate human rights standards and strategies into their advocacy. She has worked as a consultant with Human Rights Education Associates and as Project Coordinator at the Center for Economic and Social Rights, where she authored the report Civil Society and School Accountability: A Human Rights Approach to Parent and Community Participation in NYC Schools. She holds a BA from Brown University and a Masters degree in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
	Meredith Vatsek Program Assistant Ms. Vatsek provides support for NESRI’s four programs. Her social justice career began in Germany, where she worked on anti-racism youth programs for German NGO Miteinander eV. In Seattle, she worked in refugee resettlement with the International Rescue Committee and subsequently in women's legal rights with the Northwest Women's Law Center. She has also completed the United Way's Volunteer Management training program, the Poverty Scholars Leadership Program, and a degree in German Literature from the University of Kansas. At KU she was a founding member of the Global Awareness Program Advisory Board and manager of the University’s radio station, KJHK.
	Phil Wider Communications Director Mr. Wider coordinates NESRI’s media and communications efforts. Prior to coming to NESRI he was a community and movement organizer in Philadelphia for over fifteen years where he worked with community organizations fighting for affordable housing, welfare rights, tenant’s rights, jobs at living wages, universal healthcare and quality education. Mr. Wider is a co-founder and current board member of the Media Mobilizing Project in Philadelphia. He is also on the board of the Philadelphia Student Union. Mr. Wider serves as a curriculum consultant with various national anti-poverty efforts including the University of the Poor and the Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary. He received a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MA in Development Sociology from Cornell University.

	NESRI INTERNS
	Cesare Baccheschi Communications Intern Mr. Baccheschi is an intern for NESRI’s Communications Department. He collaborates with Phil Wider managing and editing multimedia projects produced by NESRI and its partners. He is currently pursuing his Master's Degree in Political Science at the New School for Social Research and is studying the relationship between economic and cultural development in the world's most and least developed countries.
	Gala Chausson Communications Intern Ms. Chausson is an intern for NESRI’s Communications Department. She is working with Phil Wider on the post-production and distribution of two documentaries dealing with the Human Right to Housing, among other communications activities. She moved to the United States from France to attend NYU, and recently graduated with a BA in Political Science. Ms. Chausson is very interested in the way information can be spread to create movements towards social justice.
	Chris Famighetti Human Right to Housing Intern Mr. Famighetti is an intern for NESRI’s Human Right to Housing program. He is working with Tiffany Gardner on policy research and organizing around housing issues in the United States. He just completed his first semester as an Urban Leaders Scholar at the New School's Urban Policy Program. He has a BA from Bard College, where he studied Literature and Russian.
	Samara Fox Human Right to Health Program Intern Ms. Fox is an intern for NESRI's Human Right to Health program. She is working with Anja Rudiger to conduct a human rights assessment of health care reform bills proposed by the U.S. House and Senate, focusing on the impact of proposed legislation on minority groups. She recently graduated from Yale University and is also working as a Legal Research Assistant at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Right Commission. She will be attending law school in the fall where she hopes to study international human rights law with a focus on economic and social rights.
	Nykki Hafenbrack Executive Intern Ms. Hafenbrack is interning with NESRI's Executive Director, Cathy Albisa. She is currently a third-year law student at the CUNY School of Law where she participates in the International Women’s Human Rights Clinic working on the right to housing. For her undergraduate studies, she attended Agnes Scott College in Atlanta, GA where she obtained a B.A. in Women’s Studies.
	Danielle Kapsalakis Development Intern Ms. Kapsalakis is an intern for NESRI’s Development Department. She assists Laura Gosa in fundraising database support, prospecting research, and editing grant and fundraising materials. She is currently a senior at Ramapo College of New Jersey completing a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Women’s Studies. After college, she hopes to work for reproductive justice at a non-profit organization and earn a Master’s in Nonprofit Management and Public Policy.
	Kaity Lloyd Human Right to Health Intern Ms. Lloyd is an intern for NESRI’s Human Right to Health program. She works with Anja Rudiger to analyze the recent healthcare reform attempt, and determine what can be done to create a human rights-based system in the future. Ms. Lloyd is a Master's Student in Public Health at Columbia University, where she hopes to study the connection between environmentalism, local food, and migrant farmworker health.
	Nitya Ram Communications Intern Ms. Ram is an intern for NESRI's Communications Department where she works with Phil Wider on various online and multimedia projects. Currently a Junior at NYU, Nitya is getting her Bachelor's of Science in Communications with a concentration in Social Processes, Politics, and Globalization. After college, she hopes to attend law school while continuing to expand her knowledge of and experience with human rights issues.
	Paula Searing Communications Intern Ms. Searing is a Junior in Illustration at Parsons, the New School for Design. Previously she has provided non-profits with design support ranging from websites to print material. Working under the direction of Phil Wider, Ms. Searing is extraordinarily excited to be a part of the NESRI Communications team.
	Eleanor Smiley Human Right to Housing Intern Ms. Smiley is an intern for NESRI’s Human Right to Housing program. She assists Tiffany Gardner with advocacy surrounding the 2009 visit of the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing. Ms. Smiley is a third year student at the City University of New York School of Law, where she is an intern in the International Women’s Human Rights Clinic. She is a graduate of Connecticut College.
	NESRI ADVISOR
	Sharda Sekaran Ms. Sekaran co-founded NESRI and served as the Associate Director 2004-2007. She worked with staff to define NESRI’s mission, vision, structure, planning, governance, key program areas, and partnership model. In particular, she was instrumental in launching the Human Right to Health Program and the Special Project on the Rights of Hurricane Survivors. Previously, she worked at the Center for Economic and Social Rights as the U.S. Program Fellow, where she researched a human rights approach to reforming health care financing in the United States. She also developed policy and public education materials and provided trainings on social and economic rights in the United States. Ms. Sekaran comes from a background of connecting grassroots constituencies with public policy advocacy as Associate Director of Public Policy and Community Outreach at the Drug Policy Alliance, a national organization promoting treatment and health-based alternatives to incarceration for non-violent drug offenders. Prior to that, she was a public relations and events consultant, and a Program Associate in the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch. Sharda holds a BA in International Relations from Pomona College and is pursing a MBA at The Roberto C. Goizueta Business School at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. She currently serves as an advisor to NESRI.
	NESRI CONSULTANT
	Joie Chowdhury Ms. Chowdhury has a background in human rights advocacy and legal aid with a specific focus on economic and social rights. Her work at NESRI currently focuses on addressing the challenges facing workers’ compensation reform. Prior to joining NESRI, she has worked at the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute, Center for Economic and Social Rights, Consumer Unity and Trust Society International (CUTS) and on a right to health project for the World Health Organization, CUTS, and the Ministry of Health, India. She has been an instructor of international law and human rights at Tufts University and CTY, John Hopkins University and a guest lecturer on economic and social rights at Hofstra University Law School. She holds a law degree from the National University of Juridical Sciences in India, a MA in Law and Diplomacy (International Affairs) from the Fletcher School, Tufts University and a LL.M. from Columbia Law School.