Yoonie Kim is an alumna from American University Washington College of Law and the Lawyering Peace Program. After graduating, she worked at the United Nations as a Rule of Law officer and later at the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as a Human Rights Officer. She is a Political Affairs Officer at the United Nations where she specializes in rule of law assistance, constitution-making, and international human rights law. Yoonie is currently in Yemen working as Special Assistant to the Head of the UN Mission in support of the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA).

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Melanie Nakagawa, an alumna of the JD/MA program at American University, currently serves as the Head of Princeville Global’s Climate Initiative, which is a global growth equity fund investing in proven technology companies that offer transformative solutions to the climate challenge while simultaneously delivering strong investor returns. Melanie also currently serves as a member of the Loomis Innovation Council.

Previously, Ms. Nakagawa worked as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Transformation at the Department of State. Prior to being appointed as Deputy Assistant Secretary, Mrs. Nakagawa served as a member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff, working on a portfolio that included climate change, energy, environment, and ocean issues. Mrs. Nakagawa previously worked on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee as Senior Environment/Energy Counsel. Mrs. Nakagawa also worked as an attorney for the National Resources Defense Council and with PILPG as a Peace Fellow and Senior Research Associate.

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Anna Triponel graduated from the LLM program at the American University Washington College of Law in 2005. She later became the International Law Pro Bono Head at Jones Day, as well as a Mergers & Acquisitions Associate. She has also served as Consultant to the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Human Rights, and the Director of the New York Office as well as a Senior Counsel at the Public International Law & Policy Group, and an Advisor for the Shift Project, an independent, non-profit center for business and human rights practice which was central in writing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

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Gina Kassem worked as thirteen years as a foreign service officer and has worked in Riyadh, London, Amman, and Washington, DC. She currently works on the Turkey desk, but before that, she worked in Jordan, as the Regional Refugee Coordinator overseeing the US Refugee Admissions Program in the Middle East and North Africa.  Before starting her career at the State Department, she was a Somalia Project Officer for the United Nations Development Program, and a Pro Bono Attorney for the Public International Law & Policy Group on its Somalia Project.

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Richard Kraemer is currently a Fellow for the Eurasia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is also an Affiliated Expert at the Public International Law & Policy Group, where he assists on the group’s pro bono legal counsel on Abkhazian and Ossetian Conflict to the government of the Republic of Georgia. Richard has also been a Senior Program Officer for the MENA region at the National Endowment for Democracy, as well as a Program Officer at the Center for International Private Enterprise. Richard is an alumnus of American University’s Washington College of Law.

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Dr. Brianne McGonigle Leyh is an associate professor with the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM) at Utrecht University where she specializes in human rights, victims’ rights, transitional justice and international criminal law and procedure. She is an executive editor of the Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights and is a Senior Counsel with the Public International Law & Policy Group. She advises on war crimes prosecutions, the establishment of the rule of law in post-conflict regions and the implementation of human rights. She also assists clients on issues concerning self-determination and conflict resolution.

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Peter Young has been a regional Legal Advisor with USAID in Iraq, Afghanistan, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ghana, Cameroon, Liberia and across West Africa. He is currently serving as the Assistant General Counsel with USAID for Latin American and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Europe & Eurasia. He also serves as an Advisory Council Member for the Public International Law & Policy Group.

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Elizabeth Lee Walker started her career at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP as a Litigation Associate after graduating from the American University Washington College of Law in 2006. Elizabeth then worked as the Public International Law & Policy Group’s Chief of Party in Colombo, Sri Lanka, After her time with PILPG, she worked as a Rule of Law Advisor for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, then as a Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, and finally as a USAID Foreign Service Attorney, where she worked on projects in South Sudan and South Africa. Currently, Elizabeth is a Senior Resident Legal Officer at USAID Southern Africa.

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David Teslicko is an associate in Sullivan & Cromwell’s Firm Litigation Group, where he focuses on complex antitrust, securities and shareholder derivative litigation, criminal and regulatory enforcement matters, corporate internal investigations, and antitrust merger clearance. He has represented financial institutions in proceedings involving allegations of criminal antitrust, securities, and fraud violations. He has litigated in both state and federal court and has counseled clients in investigations by the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Reserve, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and the NY Department of Financial Services. 

David has an active pro bono practice, representing children in immigration-related matters in state and federal courts as well as providing representation to Washington, D.C. tenants at risk of improper eviction.

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Sukhman Dhami co-founded Ensaaf, which works to end impunity and achieve justice for crimes against humanity in India, with a special focus on Punjab, by documenting and exposing human rights violations, bringing perpetrators to justice, and organizing survivors to advocate for their rights. Before founding in Ensaaf and serving as its director, Sukhman worked as a New Voices Fellow and Staff Attorney for the Center for Justice and Accountability in San Francisco.

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Caitlin Potratz Metcalf is a Senior Associate at Linklaters in Washington DC, where she specializes in white collar defense, financial and criminal litigation, and anti-corruption matters. A graduate of the American University Washington College of Law’s JD/MA program, Caitlin started her career as a Senior Research Associate at the Public International Law & Policy Group, and later worked as an Associate at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP and Morvillo LLP. She also clerked for the Honorable Cecilia M. Altonaga for the Southern District of Florida.

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Jennifer Ober graduated from the American University Washington College of Law in 2005. After graduation, she worked as a Legal Advisor and Country Director in Kosovo for the Public International Law and Policy Group. She then worked for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Kosovo, where she rose to Chief of Section, Central Assembly & Political Parties. She then became a Senior Rule of Law Advisor at USAID. After that, Ober worked at the National Center for State Courts in Washington DC and Kampala. She has since returned to USAID, where she is Senior Program Manager and Rule of Law Advisor.

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Anupama Selvam completed the JD/MA program in December 2017. Her career has focused on prevention of gender-based violence, and she is interested in the intersections that Immigration, Discrimination, International Human Rights and International Criminal Law, have with critical race and feminist legal theory. Anu works as a Staff Attorney at the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights New York.

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Ali Boyd is a recent J.D graduate of WCL. Ali will start her legal career by joining the social movement to end indefinite detention at Guantanamo as the Secret Prisons Fellow with the human rights organization, Reprieve. While a law student, Ali pursued her interest in international criminal law through opportunities such the Kovler Project Against Torture, a summer internship in Mexico City, and competing as a member of both the International Criminal Court moot team and International Day of Crisis team. Ali looks forward to joining the next generation of movement lawyers after she passes the bar exam!

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Matthew T. Simpson focuses his corporate transactional practice on helping his clients solve the increasingly complex challenges of acquisitions, financings, and governance matters. Leveraging his broad skill set and unique background, Matt serves as a strategic counselor to his clients, working with them to structure, negotiate, and execute various transactional arrangements, including mergers and acquisitions, growth equity investments, joint ventures and other financings. Matt also serves as outside general counsel to several early stage clients. Matt’s clients span a broad range of corporate organizations, including well-known private equity sponsors, large multi-national corporations, and both early-stage and late-stage grown companies, across many industries including technology, pharmaceuticals, life sciences, telecommunications, financial services, consumer products, and energy, among others.

Previously Matt worked at the New York office of Torys LLP and the Washington, DC office of Weil Gotshal. In addition to his corporate practice, Matt is a recognized international legal advisor. In 2010 the United Nations and African Union appointed Matt the Principal Legal Advisor to the Darfur Delegation in the Darfur Peace Negotiations.

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Lauren C. Baillie is an international lawyer with extensive experience supporting civil society organizations, government officials, and parties involved in constitution drafting, legislative drafting, and legislative implementation. Her work has focused on the development of representative government institutions, improved human and civil rights protections, and civil society capable of effective advocacy to and monitoring of governments. She is currently a Vice President and Senior Counsel at PILPG.

Ms. Baillie holds a J.D. from American University Washington College of Law, an M.A. from the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, and a B.A. from Yale College. She is licensed to practice law in New York and the District of Columbia.

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Christina Sheetz a former U.S. Fulbright Scholar, is an international policy consultant with nine years of experience analyzing foreign legal/regulatory/institutional framework environments, drafting legislative proposals, providing policy advice to high-level government officials, and managing/participating in multi-disciplinary project teams. Christina is a Vice President and Senior Counsel at PILPG.

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Jocelyn Rafferty is a Foreign Affairs Officer at the U.S. Department of State. From 2016 - 2018, Jocelyn served as the Afghanistan Rule of Law Team Lead

Specialties: rule of law, public international law, criminal justice reform, gender justice, gender-based violence, constitutional reform, constitutional law, counter-human trafficking, and human rights.

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Roushani Mansoor has specialized in international law, particularly in the context of public policy and judicial relations. She is currently an embedded contractor working as a Justice Advisor for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement at the US Department of State. Previously, she worked in the Bureau of International Organizational Affairs at the US State Department and as a Law Fellow at the Public International Law & Policy Group. Roushani completed a year-long fellowship in Dhaka, Bangladesh as a Fulbright Public Policy Fellow in the inaugural year of the program. During her fellowship, she worked as a special legal assistant in the Bangladeshi Ministry of Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs as well as researching access to justice mechanisms for Bangladeshi women.

Prior to becoming a Fulbright Fellow, Roushani worked at the Public International Law & Policy Group as a Senior Research Associate and as a Law Clerk at the Commercial Law Development Program at the Department of Commerce. She has been published on topics including current trends in Shari'ah and Zimbabwe's first human rights commission.

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Knox Thames has deep experience on a range of foreign policy issues, including religion and international affairs, human rights, religious freedom, and counter extremism. His areas of expertise include South/Central Asia, the Middle East, and multilateral organizations. From his work at the State Department and two different U.S. government foreign policy commissions, Thames has practical knowledge of Washington’s institutional and political environment. Working in the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations, he has demonstrated the ability to work on a bipartisan basis to accomplish significant policy goals.

Knox Thames currently serves as the Special Advisor for Religious Minorities at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. The first to serve in this capacity, he received a civil service appointment in September 2015 and leads State Department efforts to address the situation of religious minorities in these regions.

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Jason Steinbaum serves as Democratic Staff Director of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Previously, he was Staff Director for the majority and minority of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere from 2006-2012. He has also served as Washington Chief of Staff and Legislative Director for Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), the Ranking Member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. In the early 1990’s, Mr. Steinbaum worked for Senator Donald Riegle (D-MI), having served as his Legislative Assistant for foreign affairs and defense.

During his career in Congress, Mr. Steinbaum wrote the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003 and the law providing normal trade relations with Albania, has been a leader on policy toward the Balkans, and has monitored elections in numerous countries.

Mr. Steinbaum received a law degree and a Master’s in law and international affairs in 1993 from The American University in Washington, DC. He graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia in 1988. Mr. Steinbaum is a member of the bars of the States of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He and his family live in Northern Virginia.

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Tamer Nagy is an attorney at White & Case LLP - a global law firm with longstanding offices around the world. Tamer guides clients through complex multi-jurisdictional mergers and acquisitions, counsels them on antitrust compliance matters, and helps them navigate investigations and regulatory proceedings before competition agencies around the world, including the U.S. Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, the European Commission, the COMESA Competition Commission, and the competition authorities of Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and South Africa, among others.

Tamer also has significant experience in cross-border disputes with a focus on clients and matters in the Middle East. He worked on litigations before US federal and state courts, as well as arbitrations under ICSID and UNCITRAL. Tamer has also served as an arbitrator at the Cairo Regional Center for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA).

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Anand Shah is an American attorney who has assisted in representing six defendants before the ICC (Darfur, Kenya and Libya Situations) and two defendants before the STL. He is currently a member of the defence for Abdallah Banda and Saif Al-Islam Gadafi. He previously served on the ICCBA Amicus and Support Staff committees, and is presently serving on the Legal Advisory and Amicus committees, as well as the Secretariat. Anand has also provided advice to governments on international law issues and conflict resolution.

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Marieke De Hoon is an Assistant Professor of International Law, International Criminal Law and Human Rights Law at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Director and Senior Counsel at the Public International Law & Policy Group’s Netherlands Office.

Dr. De Hoon's research interest lies in the development of the international legal order, particularly when it addresses serious human rights violations. She follows the development of the newest crime of the International Criminal Court (ICC): the crime of aggression. She moreover researches the functioning and legitimacy struggles of the ICC. Dr. De Hoon is currently interested in the establishment of the IIIM and the Myanmar Mechanism under the Human Rights Council and the ways in which these mechanisms will fulfill and (re)shape their mandates and collaborate with other investigatory and accountability institutions on the international and domestic levels. She moreover continues to follow the legal developments regarding the downing of Flight MH17.

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Tyler Thompson is a Peace Process Adviser in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, which supports efforts to promote conflict resolution through peace processes, ensuring that U.S. diplomats have access to best practices and expertise on peace negotiations, drafting, and implementation. He previously served as an Atrocity Prevention Advisor at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) as a part of the Institute of International Education’s Democracy Fellows program.  He served as Counsel for PILPG from 2009 to 2014 before leaving to be the Policy Director of the non-profit United for a Free Syria. Prior to his time at PILPG, he was a Law Fellow at the Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law as well as a Legal Assistant at Paras, Apy, & Reiss law firm. Mr. Thompson earned his JD and MA at American University and his BA at Boston College.

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Lee Tucker has extensive experience providing technical & legal advice to states & governments on public international law, human rights, transitional legal reform, & rule of law. At PILPG, Lee advises key actors in post-revolution MENA states on transitional governance, constitution-drafting, peace negotiations, & transitional justice. In 2013, Lee coordinated PILPG's regional program in Gaziantep, Turkey, training Syrian civil society on legal & policy mechanisms for mitigating inter-communal conflict.

Lee specializes in law & politics of the Middle East & North Africa, with client experience including Libya, Egypt, Syria, and Yemen. Lee has also worked with Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the Hague and participated in the preparation of a text on International Law of Armed Conflict. Prior to obtaining her law degree, Lee also lived and worked in Damascus, Syria, where she supplemented MSA with colloquial Arabic.

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Jennifer Harris is Special Counsel at Milbank LLP’s Alternative Investments Practice. Ms. Harris’s practice focuses on finance transactions, including structured financings, secured lending and debt restructuring both in and outside of bankruptcy. She represents financial institutions, corporations, issuers, special servicers, and official and ad hoc creditors’ committees. Recent areas of particular focus include workouts of troubled structured finance transactions (commercial mortgage-backed security and structured investment vehicle transactions), special situation lending and secured lending (2nd lien structures, DIPs and exit facilities). Ms. Harris’s experience spans a wide-array of industries that include automotive, gaming, hospitality, media, telecommunications, broadcasting, shipping, healthcare, and sports.

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Julie Gryce is an associate in DLA's Antitrust and Trade Regulation practice group, and is a member of the Antitrust Technology Task Force and the Antitrust Life Sciences Task Force. In 2017 and 2018, Julie was recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Antitrust Litigation.

Julie focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation, including antitrust commercial litigation and consumer class actions, as well as internal and government investigations. In addition to her litigation and trial experience, Julie has experience representing clients during internal investigations and government investigations, including by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division. She also has experience with matters relating to U.S. merger enforcement, including compliance with the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. Julie regularly advises clients, including consumer goods providers and retailers, on antitrust matters and compliance. Julie also worked as a Senior Research Associate the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG).

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Nick Leddy is a Trial Lawyer at the International Court. Before working at the ICC, Nick served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Public Corruption Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

Previously, he worked for the Public International Law and Policy Group (PILPG) in Washington, D.C. and Kampala, Uganda where he advised clients on transitional justice issues including war crimes prosecution. He also worked as a law clerk in the Office the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), where he helped investigate and prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity in the DRC.

Nick Leddy is an experienced prosecutor passionate about criminal law, corruption, transitional justice, law of armed conflict, and human rights.

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