Zama Coursen-Neff is the executive director of the children's rights division of Human Rights Watch, where she leads the organization’s work on children’s rights. Coursen-Neff’s expertise covers a range of issues affecting children, including access to education, police violence, refugee protection, the worst forms of child labor, and discrimination against women and girls. During a sabbatical in 2006/2007, Coursen-Neff ran a protection monitoring team for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Sri Lanka. Media includes: CBS News (Katie Couric), BBC, CNN (US, International), NBC, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post.

Noura Erakat is a human rights attorney and writer. She is currently the Freedman Teaching Fellow at Temple Law School and the US-based Legal Advocacy Consultant for the Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Refugee and Residency Rights. Noura is a frquent commentator on the Palestinian-Israel conflict, US Middle East foreign policy, and international human rights in the Middle East. Media includes: Fox News "Politically Incorrect", MSNBC "Up with Chris Hayes", NBC's "Politically Incorrect", Al Jazeera English, Democracy Now.

Jessica Therkelsen is a social justice lawyer and the Director of the Pro Bono Justice Program at OneJustice. Her mission is to bring life changing legal services to all who need them. In her previous role as Global Director of Advocacy and Communications at Asylum Access, an international refugee rights nonprofit, Jessica worked closely with local human rights leaders in the US, Ecuador, Tanzania, Thailand and Malaysia to advocate for systems, laws and policies that help refugees build a new life. Media includes: Time Magazine, Women's Radio, Forced Migration Review.

Erika Guevara-Rosas is a feminist lawyer and human rights activist, who currently serves as the Americas Programme Director at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International. Before joining Amnesty International, Erika served as Legal/Protection Officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), managing complex operations in Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Panama and Venezuela, mainly in border areas with war-affected populations. At UNHCR, she was actively involved in the formulation of policy and legal frameworks to protect the human rights of refugees during and after migration. Extensive media experience.

Kathleen Newland is co-founder of the Migration Policy Institute and directs MPI's programs on migrants, migration, and development and comprehensive protection for refugees and internally displaced people. Her work focuses on the relationship between migration and development, governance of international migration, and refugee protection. She sits on the Board of the International Rescue Committee, and is a Chair Emerita of the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children. She is also on the Board of the Foundation for the Hague Process on Migrants and Refugees. Media includes: New York Times, BBC World TV, The Economist, NPR, Reuters.

Marcia Anne Zug teaches Family Law, Advanced Family Law, Immigration law and American Indian law. Professor Zug's research focuses on the intersection of family law and immigration law and has advised national organizations such as The Women's Refugee Commission and The Southern Poverty Law Center on the legal issues facing undocumented immigrant families. Media includes: New Republic Magazine, US News and World Report, The Associated Press, CNN.com, The Kansas City Star, BBC Radio.

Eugenie Mukeshimana is the founder and executive director of the Genocide Survivors Support Network. She was a young adult and 8 months pregnant when the genocide broke in Rwanda in 1994. She is a frequent panelist and lecturer on genocide-related issues such as justice and forgiveness, gender-based violence, memorialization and preservation of history, trauma and grief management, education and advocacy. Media includes: Huffington Live, local NBC, ABC stations, Voice of America, UN Radio.

Jehan Harney is an award-winning Egyptian-American TV journalist and filmmaker. Jehan is expert on the changing landscape of Egypt, as well as Arab-American issues and Islam in America. Jehan's films explore Interfaith, cultural, and human rights issues. Her latest feature film, The Lost Dream, about the Iraqi refugee crisis as a consequence of war. Media includes: Washington Post, Czech TV, Radio Prague, RFERL, Fox News, PBS.

Pia Wanek has directed Humanitarian Assistance’s response for a variety of crises, including the West African Ebola epidemic, the 2014 war in Gaza, and the ongoing Syrian conflict. She worked for USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance for six years, predominantly on East and Central Africa emergency response programs, and supported the civil-military portfolio at the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration and strategic planning and policy development at the Consular Affairs bureau at the State Department. Media includes: The Cipher Brief, DevEx, Vice, Global Communities, PRISM.

Maysoon Zayid is an actress, comedian, disability advocate, and writer. She is the founder of Maysoon’s Kids, a scholarship and wellness program for disabled refugee children. Additionally, she is the co-founder/co-executive producer of the New York Arab American Comedy Festival and The Muslim Funny Fest. As a professional comedian, Maysoon has performed in top New York clubs and has toured extensively at home and abroad. She was a headliner on the Arabs Gone Wild Comedy Tour and The Muslims Are Coming Tour. Media includes: CNN, MSNBC, Comedy Central, Al Jazeera, BBC.

Karen Musalo is a nationally-recognized expert on gender-based asylum law, which includes practices such as female genital cutting (FGC), “honor” killing, human trafficking for prostitution or sexual slavery, domestic violence, forced marriage, forced abortion or reproductive sterilization, and rape or other sexual violence. Karen represented Fauziya Kassindja in Matter of Kasinga, the 1996 landmark legal ruling that women who suffer serious violations of their fundamental human rights because of their gender are entitled to refugee status in the U.S. Media includes: The New York Times, The Washington Post,National Public Radio, ABC.

Celina Su co-founded Kwah Dao/ Burmese Refugee Project (http://www.burmeserefugeeproject.org) in 2001 and has served on New York City's participatory budgeting Steering Committee since its inception in 2011. She is currently Marilyn J. Gittell Chair in Urban Studies and an Associate Professor of Political Science at the City University of New York. Her research concerns civil society and social policy, especially health and education. Her work focuses on how everyday citizens engage in and shape policy-making and community development. Media includes: PBS, The Nation, Die Tagezeitung, The Progressive.