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, Associate Director for Policy and Research
Dwight
Bashir joined the Commission as a Policy Analyst in 2002. A Senior
Policy Analyst since 2005, Mr. Bashir became Associate Director for Policy and
Research in early 2009. Previously, he worked as a consultant with
the United Nations and before that with various non-governmental organizations
focusing on human rights and international conflict resolution with a
concentration in the Near East region. Mr. Bashir is a specialist in
ethnic and religious conflict and preventive diplomacy. He has traveled
widely in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa and has lectured and published on
an array of topics in international affairs, including peace and security,
human rights, religious extremism, and U.S. foreign policy. He has
advocated a range of international human rights issues before Members of
Congress and senior U.S. government officials and has contributed to projects
conducted by the Rand Corporation and the Center for Strategic and
International Studies in Washington, DC. He has been interviewed by major
national and international media, including CNN, Fox News, The Washington Post,
The Washington Times, The Christian Science Monitor, National Public Radio,
Associated Press, and Voice of America, as well as other regional media, such
as Al Arabiya, Al Jazeera, Al Hurra,
and Arab News. Mr. Bashir holds a B.A. in Political Science and
International Relations from the University of Richmond and a M.S. and Ph.D.
from the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason
University.
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, Director of Communications
Tom Carter joined the Commission in March 2009. Prior to that, he was the Communications Director at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington, D.C.-based public interest law
firm protecting the free expression of all religious traditions
. A graduate from Susquehanna University in English
literature, Tom spent 25 years reporting in Washington, and around the world. On the Washington Times foreign desk, Tom focused on human rights
in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, and global health issues, including HIV,
malaria, and tuberculosis. He interviewed dozens of international
leaders, from the Dalai Lama and Benazir Bhutto, to heads of state including
Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Mexico's Vicente Fox,
Uganda's Yoweri Museveni and Botswana's Festus Mogae. After three reporting trips to Cuba, he was banned from returning when his
articles on human rights activists angered government officials. Tom and his wife Chizuko have been married for 26 years. They have two
grown children.
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, Associate Director for Policy and Research
Elizabeth K. Cassidy joined the
Commission as International Legal Specialist in July 2007, and became
Associate Director for Policy and Research in March 2009.Previously,
she was Assistant Executive Director of UN Watch, a non-governmental
organization in Geneva, Switzerland, where she monitored and analyzed
United Nations affairs, with a particular focus on the U.N.'s
Geneva-based human rights bodies. Before UN Watch, Ms. Cassidy taught
courses in constitutional law, comparative law, and international human
rights law at Princeton University, Seton Hall University School of Law
and the University of Namibia and worked as a legal consultant to
several human rights NGOs in Windhoek, Namibia. She also has practiced
law in the Washington, D.C. office of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer &
Feld and worked as a judicial clerk to the Hon. Richard Nygaard of the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the Hon. William
Bassler of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. Ms.
Cassidy holds a B.A. in international politics from Wesleyan
University, a J.D. from American University's Washington College of
Law, and a LL.M in comparative constitutional law from the University
of Stellenbosch.
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, Senior Policy Analyst
Catherine Cosman joined the staff of the Commission as Senior Policy
Analyst in November 2003. Her areas of responsibility include the
countries of the former Soviet Union, East and Central Europe and
Western Europe. She served on the staff of the U.S. Commission on
Security and Cooperation in Europe as senior analyst on Soviet dissent
(1976-1989). Cosman was also a commentator on Soviet society for a
nationally syndicated U.S. radio program. She then joined Human Rights
Watch (1989-1992) where she wrote several studies on ethnic conflicts
in Central Asia and the Caucasus and the human rights in the then-USSR.
Working with emerging independent labor unions for the Free Trade Union
Institute (1992-1996), she focussed on Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. She
lived in Estonia where she was the Senior Expert of the OSCE Mission,
working on the integration of the Russian minority into Estonian
society (1996-1998.) She managed the Central Asian and Caucasus grants
program at the National Endowment for Democracy, before joining the
Communications Division at RFE/RL in 1999 where she edited "Media
Matters" and "(Un)Civil Societies." She has lived, worked and studied
in Berlin, Germany; Moscow, then-USSR; and Prague, Czech Republic. She
received a BA in History from Grinnell College and a MA and an ABD in
Slavic Languages and Literatures from Brown University. She also has
studied at the Free University of Berlin and the All-Union Institute of
Cinematography in Moscow.
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, General Counsel
Walter G. DeSocio joined the Commission in January 2008.
Previously, he served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief
Administrative Officer of Lottomatica S.p.A., the world's largest global gaming
technology company. Prior to that position, he served as General Counsel or in
an equivalent position for U.S.-based global companies in the technology,
Internet and communications sectors. Mr.
DeSocio also practiced law in the New York City offices of Dewey Ballantine
(now Dewey & LeBouef). Mr. DeSocio holds an LL.M. degree, first class
honors with distinction, from Cambridge University (Corpus Christi College), a
J.D., cum laude, from New York Law School and a B.A., cum laude, from Colgate
University.
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, Director of Operations and Outreach
David Dettoni joined the Commission in February of 2003, after four years as a senior legislative assistant for Representative Frank R. Wolf, whom he advised on policy issues related to human rights, foreign affairs, religious freedom, and international terrorism. Mr. Dettoni was Rep. Wolf's staff liaison to the Foreign Operations appropriations subcommittee and assisted with pertinent issues relating to the Commerce, Justice, State, Judiciary appropriations subcommittee. He was also the primary staff person for Rep.Wolf to the Helsinki Commission, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and the Congressional Human Rights Caucus. Prior to that, Mr. Dettoni was the assistant director of a faith-based undergraduate and graduate program at Stanford University, where he launched the first Veritas Forum and led outreach and special service projects in Bolivia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Israel, Mexico, Panama, and Venezuela. He has also worked at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Mr. Dettoni holds a B.A. in philosophy from Westmont College and a Master's degree in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary.
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, Senior Policy Analyst
Scott Flipse joined the Commission in April of 2003. Before coming to the Commission he was Associate Director and Adjunct Professor of History for the University of Notre Dame's Washington Semester. Mr. Flipse is a specialist in American foreign policy, particularly toward Southeast and East Asia. He brings to the Commission a wealth of unique professional and educational experience. He served as a legislative assistant and committee staffer for Congressman Frank R. Wolf, specializing in human rights, religious freedom, and foreign operation's appropriations. After working on the Hill, he helped start an inner-city jobs and mentoring program in Los Angeles and later worked in Hollywood as a writer. Mr. Flipse has a B.A. in government from Calvin College, an M.A. in Social Ethics and Religion from the University of Southern California and Fuller Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in History from the University of Notre Dame.
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, Director of Government Relations
Judith Golub joined the
Commission in January, 2009. Before
coming to the Commission, she was the Executive Director of the San
Francisco-based Immigrant Legal Resource.
She also was the Senior Director of Advocacy at the American Immigration
Lawyers Association, and Legislative Director at the American Jewish Committee,
both based in Washington DC. She brings to the Commission more than twenty
years experience working with Congressional staff, federal agencies, and the
White House; planning, coordinating and implementing legislative strategies;
developing, policy, media and grassroots issue advocacy campaigns in support of
legislation and policies; developing and working in coalitions with like-minded
organizations to help create effective networks; and working with the media.
Ms. Golub has focused on a broad range of issues during her career including
religious freedom, hate crimes, due process protections, detention,
deportation, expedited removal, civil rights, refugee and asylum issues, and
immigration.
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, Director of Administration
Carmelita Hines (formally Carmelita Pratt) joined the Commission in
April 2003 after serving as an administrator for the DC Public Charter
School Board. In addition to her current appointment, she has served
with four other Commissions: The Commission on Severely Distressed
Public Housing, Commission on Manufactured Housing, Commission on the
Cost of Higher Education, and Commission on the Advancement of Federal
Law Enforcement. Mrs. Hines earned her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology
from Central State University, Wilberforce, Ohio.
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, Assistant Director for Government Affairs
Prior to joining the Commission in 2007, Mr. Kness was a policy analyst in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives' Legislative Office for Research Liaison. Mr. Kness has also worked in New York City for the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Mr. Kness has written on the identity of practitioners of Falun Gong and has presented his research at conferences of the Association of Asian Studies and at Columbia University. Mr. Kness holds an Honors Bachelor's degree from Arizona State University in Religious Studies with a certificate in East Asian Studies, and has done graduate coursework in policy
analysis at Pennsylvania State University. Mr. Kness has also studied at Renmin University of China (People's University of China) in Beijing and at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Mr. Kness speaks Mandarin Chinese.
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, South Asia Researcher
Bridget Kustin joined the Commission in 2007. As a 2005-06 Fulbright
Islamic Civilization Award recipient and 2005-06 Fulbright research scholar to
Bangladesh, Ms. Kustin's study into U.S.-funded initiatives to increase
the participation of imams in community development included a survey
of 400 imams regarding their perceptions of Islam, the U.S., and local
power politics. She has presented her research at conferences and
workshops in Bangladesh, India, Tunisia, and throughout the United States. Ms. Kustin has studied Hindi in Washington, D.C. and in Jaipur, India through the School for
International Training, and studied Bengali at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison and for an academic year in Kolkata, India as a 2006-07 Fellow with the
American Institute of Indian Studies. Ms. Kustin received her Bachelor's
degree in English summa cum laude from Whitman College.
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, Researcher
Tiffany Lynch is a researcher at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, where her work focuses on refugee and asylum issues, and religious freedom in Latin America, the Balkans, and Africa. She has been with the Commission since February 2006. Ms. Lynch came to the Commission after receiving a Master's degree in Anthropology and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She has worked at the Stanhope Centre for Communication Policy and Research researching freedom of the press issues in East Africa and spent two and a half years at the National Endowment for Democracy where she managed the International Movement of Parliamentarians for Democracy, a World Movement for Democracy network of parliamentarians dedicated to the promotion of democracy and the protection of democratic parliamentarians. Ms. Lynch received a Bachelor's degree in Journalism and Political Science and minor in French from the University of Indiana.
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, Senior Policy Analyst
Steve Snow joined the Commission in April of 2001, after twenty-seven
years as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State.
His overseas experience as an American diplomat, usually as a political
officer, was mainly in the Islamic world, with postings in Turkey,
Kuwait, Egypt, and Bangladesh. Other overseas assignments were to New
Zealand and Barbados. His domestic assignments (in State's Bureaus of
Intelligence and Research, Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, and
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs) dealt with a
number of countries in the Near East, Africa, and Asia. Mr. Snow has a
B.A. in International Studies from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee
and an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan. He
studied Turkish on National Defense Foreign Language Fellowships at
Columbia University and at Michigan and Arabic at the Foreign Service
Institute in Tunis, Tunisia. His current responsibilities include
Bangladesh, Eritrea, and Sudan. He also provides back-up support as
needed on countries throughout South Asia, the Near East, and North
Africa.
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, Executive Director
James D.
Standish joined the Commission as Executive Director in August 2008. Mr.
Standish has extensive experience working on human rights issues, and
particularly religious freedom. He has lived ten years in Asia, four years in
Europe, and eight years in Australia, and has traveled widely throughout the
world. Mr. Standish is widely published, has discussed religious freedom issues
on nationally broadcast television and radio, and has testified on religious
freedom matters before the United States House of Representatives. Mr. Standish
received his undergraduate degree from Newbold College in England, a M.B.A.
from the University of Virginia and a J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown
University. He is a member of the Bar of Virginia State and the District
of Columbia, and has been admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court
and the Fourth Circuit.
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, Director of Policy and Research
Knox Thames joined the Commission in February 2009.
Before coming to the Commission, he worked in the Office of International
Religious Freedom at the U.S. Department of State, leading its engagement on
issues of concern in multilateral fora (UN, OSCE) and was the Head of the Multilateral
Section. Mr. Thames also served as Counsel for six years at the U.S.
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (the Helsinki Commission),
where he was the point-person for the Helsinki Commission on religious freedom
matters and on issues s involving refugees and internally displaced
persons. An author of numerous articles on a range of human rights
issues, in 2004, Mr. Thames was appointed by the State Department to serve as
one of the two U.S. experts on the OSCE Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion
or Belief. Mr. Thames earned a J.D. with honors from the American
University Washington College of Law. He also holds a Master's in
International Affairs from the American University School of International
Service, and was a recipient of the Amnesty International Certificate of
Achievement in the Study of Human Rights. He holds a B.A. from Georgetown
College and has studied at Jagellonian University in Krakow, Poland.
