Our Team
Staff
Janet Benshoof, Esq.
President and Founder
Janet Benshoof is internationally recognized for her human rights and constitutional law expertise. She established landmark legal precedents in the U.S. Supreme Court and international forums. Ms. Benshoof spearheaded several successful legal efforts from the approval of emergency contraception for women by the FDA, to the application of international rape law to ensure the rights of women in the Iraq High Tribunal prosecutions of Saddam-era war crimes. She lectures and trains women leaders, judges, parliamentarians, and various UN bodies on implementing international human rights laws, such as CEDAW, and international humanitarian law, including women's rights to criminal accountability under Security Council Resolutions and by the International Criminal Court.
Ms. Benshoof is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including by the National Law Journal as one of the "100 Most Influential Lawyers in America", the prestigious MacArthur Foundation "Genius Award" in recognition of her legal work, the Gloria Steinem Women of Vision Award, the Edith Spivack Award for Outstanding New York Women Lawyers, and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America Margaret Sanger Award.
Ms. Benshoof previously served as Director of the American Civil Liberties Reproductive Freedom Project where she spearheaded national litigation shaping Supreme Court law on gender equality, free speech, and reproductive choice. In 1992, Ms. Benshoof founded the first international human rights organization focused on women's rights to reproductive choice and equality, now the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), and served as its first President.
Ms. Benshoof published numerous articles in respected publications such as the Harvard Law Review and The Journal of the American Medical Association, The New York University Journal of International Law and Policy, and Law Ka Pala, a Journal of The Burma Lawyers' Council. Her forthcoming publications include "Global Justice for the Twenty-First Century: International Legal Issues" for the Encyclopedia of Global Studies, "US Ratification of CEDAW: An Opportunity to Revisit and Reframe the Right to Equality Accorded Women under the US Constitution" for the NYU Review of Law and Social Change, and "The Upcoming Elections in Burma: Increasing Risks to Global Security by Constitutionalizing a Military Monopoly on Nuclear Development" with the Burma Lawyers' Council. She has appeared on the BBC, CBS evening news, Good Morning America, ABC evening news, Nightline, and McNeil /Lehr. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and served on its Burma Task Force.
Ms. Benshoof received her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School and taught at Harvard Law School and Bard College.
Gina Cohen
Program Director
As Program Director, Gina Cohen works with the legal team on developing cutting edge legal arguments on the enforcement of international law and oversees the daily management and strategic execution of the Global Justice Center's international legal projects. Ms. Cohen is also the Center's representative to the NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security at the United Nations. Since joining the Global Justice Center in 2009, Ms. Cohen has been dedicated to the Center's project to end impunity in Burma. She has also advised judges of the Iraqi High Tribunal on how to address gender crimes resulting in the first testimony by women victims of rape in the Mid-East.
Prior to joining the Global Justice Center, Ms. Cohen was a litigator at one of Australia's top commercial law firms where she specialized in large scale litigation and worked on a range of pro bono cases dealing with asylum seekers, disability discrimination, domestic violence and tenancy issues. Ms. Cohen sits on the Young Advisory Council of the non-profit organization Global Kids and is an Ambassador for the New York Young Leadership Program at the Australian Consulate. Ms. Cohen grew up in South Africa and graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa with a B.A. majoring in law and English literature. She then undertook her J.D at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia before relocating to New York.
McKensey Smith
Development and Communications Director
As Development and Communications Director, McKensey Smith leads the Global Justice Center's efforts to grow its strong base of partners and supporters. Ms. Smith is responsible for developing and managing the organization's fundraising and communications strategies and overseeing operations. Since joining the Global Justice Center in 2007, Ms. Smith has worked closely on diversifying the organization's donor base, media relations and development of messaging and advocacy strategies. She was a key part of the team that launched a global campaign that brought together human rights activists, the Burmese community and artists online and in countries around the world to call for justice and accountability in Burma.
Prior to joining the GJC, Ms. Smith worked in the marketing department of an international law firm. Ms. Smith graduated from New York University with a B.A. in International Relations and Spanish. Her senior research focused on the effectiveness of foreign aid allocated by the United States and the U.N. to countries to alleviate HIV/AIDS. A native Seattleite, Ms. Smith currently resides in New York.
Phyu Phyu Sann
Burma Researcher
Phyu Phyu Sann carries out a wide range of research on Burma on legal, political, constitutional and gender related issues. She collaborates with key partners, including Burmese and ethnic groups, women's groups, UN agencies, and Human Rights NGOs as part of the GJC's project on Criminal Accountability for Heinous Crimes in Burma, which aims to uphold international commitments to the rule of law.
Ms. Sann joined the Global Justice Center in 2006 as a research intern. Prior, Ms. Sann earned her Master of Arts in Intercultural Service, Leadership, and Management at the School for International Training (SIT) in Brattleboro, Vermont. Prior to her studies at SIT, Ms. Sann has also worked in the field of social, economic and project related research for local and international NGOs in Burma.
Ms. Sann received her MBA from the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand and her BA from Yangon University with a concentration in International Relations. She was also a recipient of the scholarship from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) for her MBA degree and Fujitsu Asia Pacific Scholarship for Intercultural Management Program at the Japan American Institute of Management Sciences, Honolulu, Hawaii. Ms. Sann is a native of Rakhine (Arakan), in the western part of Burma.
Akila Radhakrishnan
Law Fellow
Akila Radhakrishnan is a Law Fellow at the Global Justice Center working on US engagement with international law. Akila is a graduate of the University of California, Hastings College of Law with a concentration in International Law. During her tenure at Hastings, Akila was the Executive Editor of the International & Comparative Law Journal and a member of the Negotiation & Mediation Team. Akila co-authored Israel's Invasion of Gaza in International Law, which appeared in the fall 2009 University of Denver Journal of International Law and Policy. In 2008, Akila was an intern on the Defense Team for General Momcilo Perisic, the chief of the Federal Yugoslav Army at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. In 2009, she was awarded the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in International Human Rights.
Naomi Hansen
Development and Communications Assistant
Naomi Hansen recently joined the Global Justice Center as the Development and Communications Assistant. Prior to becoming a part of the GJC team, she worked as the Development Officer of the International Indigenous Women's Forum (IIWF/FIMI). Ms. Hansen, a Chicago-native, is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame (B.A. Political Science and Arabic) and a Humanity in Action Senior Fellow. Prior to moving to New York, Ms. Hansen developed programs and conducted research at INSSAN fuer kulturelle Interaktion, a Muslim interfaith organization in Berlin, Germany.
Natasha Roland
Program Assistant
Natasha Roland serves as Program Assistant at the Global Justice Center. She spent two years as an Executive Assistant to Congresswoman Grace F. Napolitano in the 38th Congressional district office in Southern California. More recently, Ms. Roland was a Community Organizer and Program Assistant at Voices of Women Organizing Project, working to improve the institutions survivors of domestic violence turn to for safety and justice in New York City. Natasha attended community college prior to graduating from George Washington University in 2008 with a BA in International Affairs and a minor in Political Science.
Julia Thomas
Assistant to the President
Julia Thomas currently serves as the Assistant to the President at the Global Justice Center. She comes to the GJC with prior non-profit experience at the Brooklyn Family Defense Project and the Global Nomads Group, an international education NGO. Ms. Thomas also spent a year teaching English at a vocational high school in western France and a semester studying and volunteering at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. A native Bostonian, Ms. Thomas graduated from Emory University with a B.A. in International Relations concentrating on State and Society in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Board of Directors
Anne Firth Murray
Board Chair
Anne Firth Murray currently serves as the Board President of the Global Justice Center. Ms. Murray joins the Global Justice Center with an impressive breadth of knowledge and experience in human rights advocacy. A New Zealander, she was educated at the University of California and New York University in economics, political science, and public administration, with a focus on international health policy and women's reproductive health. For the past twenty-five years, she has worked in the field of philanthropy. From 1978 to the end of 1987, she directed the environment and international population programs of the Hewlett Foundation in California. She is the Founding President of The Global Fund for Women and is currently a Consulting Professor in Human Biology at Stanford University.
Ms. Murray serves on several boards and councils of non-profit organizations, including the African Women's Development Fund, Commonweal, GRACE (a group working on HIV/AIDS in East Africa), Hesperian Foundation, and UNNITI (a women's foundation in India). She is the recipient of many awards and honors for her work on women's health and philanthropy, and in 2005 she was nominated as one of a group of 1,000 women for the Nobel Peace Prize. Her recent books are: Paradigm Found: Leading and Managing for Positive Change and From Outrage to Courage: Women Taking Action for Health and Justice.
Steve Toben
Vice-Chair
Steve Toben is the president of the Flora Family Foundation in Menlo Park, which supports the philanthropic activities of the descendants of Bill Hewlett, co-founder of the Hewlett-Packard Company. Interests of the Flora Family Foundation include international development, the environment, K-12 education, and arts, culture and humanities. Before coming to the Flora Family Foundation in 2000, Mr. Toben served nine years as a program officer at the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation where he directed the Foundation's programs on environment and conflict resolution. In 2001 he received a Peacemaker/Peacebuilder Award from the National Peace Foundation in Washington for his decade of work in international conflict resolution. He is a past chair of the Management Committee of the Environmental Grantmakers Association and a founding member of the Peace and Security Funders Group.
Mr. Toben serves on several nonprofit boards of directors and advisory councils, including the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation in New York, Legacy Works in Palo Alto, and the Great Valley Center in Modesto. He is a former member of the Portola Valley Planning Commission and was elected to the Portola Valley Town Council in November 2003. In 2005, Mr. Toben was elected as Mayor of Portola Valley and began his term in 2006. Mr. Toben is a graduate of the Yale Law School and the University of North Carolina, where he was a Morehead Scholar.
Tamara Quinn
Secretary and Treasurer
Tamara Quinn holds Bachelors Degrees in Accounting and Mathematics, as well as a Masters of Business Administration. She attended the American School and the Al-Mustansiryah University in Baghdad, Iraq and Murray State University, University of Evansville, and University of Phoenix in the U.S.
Ms. Quinn is the founder and Executive Director of Generation Iraq, an NGO established to provide opportunity, education, and motivation to the youth in Iraq. With Generation Iraq, Tamara has expanded the School Partners Program, where she also served as Director. The mission of Generation Iraq is to bring optimism and hope to the young people of Iraq and it is Tamara's belief that this is a key factor, over the next 15 years, to allow Iraq to develop and assume a respected position in the world community.
Tamara is a member, co-founder, and Director of the Women's Alliance for a Democratic Iraq (WAFDI), an NGO that aims to help Iraqi women. In that capacity she has also been involved in democratic development and ensuring women's voice in the Iraqi transitional justice process. She is also a founding board member of the Global Justice Center.
A 20 year veteran of the energy industry in Tennessee, Ms. Quinn is an experienced businesswoman, though in recent years she has focused her efforts primarily on Iraq and specifically, the effort to bring human rights and equality to the women and children of Iraq. Ms. Quinn has returned to Baghdad several times over the past few years, including as a member of the Iraqi Reconstruction and Development Council. She has also worked with the U.S. Department of Defense to help tutor and prepare National Guard troops and their families, in advance of their deployment to Iraq. She has been part of several speaking tours and media projects, talking about women's issues in Iraq.
David Keller
Board Member
David Keller is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology. Additionally he earned an AS degree in Electrical Engineering from Mission College. He worked in a variety of industries including medical services, heavy manufacturing and social services, before settling into a career in high-tech in Silicon Valley. He worked at increasing levels of responsibilities at ROLM Corporation from 1979-1989 and at Cisco Systems from 1989-2002. His work experiences included management, process and systems engineering, product development and strategic development. Since 2002, David has been an independent business consultant with a focus on product development methodology and business/organizational development and strategy.
David established a family foundation in 2002 and since that time has been actively engaged in philanthropy. With the assumption that the world is complex and that there are no easy answers, the mission of the foundation is to leverage resources and values protecting and expanding human rights and supporting social entrepreneurs. David offers his time, experience and financial support to a number of organizations including Human Rights Watch, Acumen Fund and The Philanthropy Workshop West.
Janet Benshoof
Board Member
President and Founder of the Global Justice Center. Bio found here
Special thanks to Debbie Sharnak and Keya Advani for all of their work in creating this website.