Theresa Harris

Executive Director   

 
Theresa Harris became the Executive Director of Human Rights USA in November 2008. Previously, Theresa served as Deputy and International Justice Project Director for the organization. Theresa’s legal advocacy with Human Rights USA builds on years of human rights activism and community organizing. Her previous experience includes coordinating Amnesty International USA’s Middle East Regional Action Network, outreach and publicity as a volunteer for the Florida Center for Survivors of Torture, and teaching English to refugees in Florida through Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Program. She is a member of the board of directors of Amnesty International USA and a member of OMCT's governing body (General Assembly). Theresa received her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law, where she was a Public Interest/Public Service Scholar, an editor for the Human Rights Brief, and a member of the Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law Student Advisory Board.  She holds a Master of Science in Planning from the University of Tennessee and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology. Theresa is a member of the Maryland Bar. Her legal practice is limited to matters and proceedings before Federal courts and agencies.

Piper Hendricks

International Justice Project Director    

Piper began working in international law after law school as a Bates Fellow at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as well as the Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress, both in San Jose, Costa Rica. She also spent one summer in law school with the Edmund Rice Centre in Homebush, Australia, studying the country’s domestic violence programs. Upon returning from Costa Rica, Piper worked for nearly three years as an associate in the Washington, DC office of Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson, LLP. Before joining Human Rights USA in November 2008, Piper clerked for a federal judge in the Southern District of Florida. Piper graduated with honors from the University of Michigan School of Law. Piper is a member of the DC and NY Bar associations. Her legal practice at Human Rights USA is limited to matters and proceedings before Federal courts and agencies.

Elizabeth Badger

Refugee Project Director 

 
Before joining Human Rights USA in August 2008, Elizabeth worked as the Robert J. Hildreth Fellow at the Political Asylum/ Immigration Representation Project in Boston, MA representing workers arrested in immigration raids, mentoring volunteer attorneys who represent those workers, and assisting other detained immigrants whose rights had been violated.  Elizabeth also worked with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute coordinating Massachusetts immigration experts on projects to protect immigrants' rights, such as monitoring the implementation of 287(g) agreements, teaching communities how to defend themselves against racial profiling, and advocating against state court enforcement of immigration laws.

Prior to her work in Massachusetts, Elizabeth served as an immigration law clerk for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 2005 until she joined PAIR in 2007. Elizabeth received her J.D. from Boston University School of Law, where she co-authored a paper for the Palestine Center regarding human rights claims pending before the International Court of Justice. During law school, she received the Massachusetts Bar Foundation Fellowship for her work in political asylum and the Professional Responsibility Award from the Association of Corporate Counsel. Elizabeth is a member of the Massachusetts Bar. Her legal practice is limited to matters and proceedings before Federal courts and agencies.

Lynsay Gott

Refugee Project Attorney & Equal Justice Works Fellow

Lynsay received her J.D. from University of Cincinnati College of the Law, and joined our staff full-time in September 2007 as an Equal Justice Works Fellow after serving as a legal intern with our organization for one year. She has taken a keen interest in the loopholes in U.S. law that limit the availability of asylum protections and mandate the return of some trafficked persons to their countries of origin where they were originally victimized. Her law review comment on this issue, “Unrealistic Burdens: How the T visa and Asylum Law Fail to Protect Many Victims of Trafficking,” was recently published in the Immigration and Nationality Law Review. Her work is focused on establishing asylum protection for trafficked persons. Her Equal Justice Works Fellowship is generously funded by the law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, LLP. Lynsay is a member of the Maryland Bar. Her legal practice is limited to matters and proceedings before Federal courts and agencies.

Colleen Costello

Human Rights & National Security Project Attorney 

Before joining Human Rights USA, Colleen refined her skills as a human rights advocate through her participation in two Amnesty International chapters that she founded and directed. In 2002, she was the recipient of an Amnesty International Patrick Stewart Human Rights Scholarship, a coveted award which supports activists in gaining practical experience in the field. Through this grant, she was able to observe sessions of the U.N. Working Group on Indigenous Populations and the U.N. Sub-Committee for Human Rights at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, while also liasing with representatives of indigenous populations from around the world and learning about their efforts to protect their populations. Colleen received her J.D. from Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law.  Colleen coordinates our efforts to ensure that developing U.S. national security policies comply with basic human rights standards.  Colleen is a member of the Maryland Bar. Her legal practice is limited to matters and proceedings before Federal courts and agencies.

 Brenden Sloan

Executive Assistant 

Brenden joined Human Rights USA after graduating from James Madison University in May of 2008 with degrees in International Affairs and Spanish, as well as a Graduate Certificate in INGO Management. While at JMU, Brenden was a part of several progressive organizations such as Alternative Spring Break, Amnesty International, and the Clean Energy Coalition. As a long-term project leader in the alternative break department, Brenden organized and conducted a hurricane relief service trip in New Orleans, Louisiana. In addition, he helped coordinate a long-term economic development plan for the island of La Ganove Haiti, by working with the community on sustainable development techniques, job creation, and HIV reduction. During his time at JMU, Brenden traveled and worked in several Latin American countries where he assisted with a grassroots economic development project in rural Ecuador, worked with an international immersion program, and taught high school English classes in Buenos Aires.

Staff photos by Jacy L. Youn, International Justice Project Intern, Summer 2009