HUMAN RIGHTS TRAINING PRESENTERS AND TRIBUNAL OBSERVERS

Kali Akuno is the US Human Rights Networks Director of Education. He has more than 15 years of experience as a human rights writer, researcher, educator and activist. His considerable social justice expertise includes curriculum development, fundraising, project management, training, volunteer coordination, media outreach and community organizing for numerous organizations. He served as Executive Director of the New Orleans-based Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund from 2006-2008, and founded and directed two organizations in the Oakland area in the 1990s.

Ejim Dike is Executive Director of the US Human Rights Network. Ms. Dike has worked on social policy issues for over fifteen years and in the domestic human rights arena for the past ten years. Her human rights work focuses on addressing poverty and discrimination using a human rights framework. Previously, she was Director of the Human Rights Project at the Urban Justice Center. Under her leadership, the Human Rights Project launched an annual report card on the human rights record of New York City Council members; coordinated a shadow report on racial discrimination with 30 local groups for submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD;) organized a New York City visit by the UN Special Expert on Racism; and developed a toolkit on and coordinated participation for social justice activists in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process. She received her undergraduate degree from Berea College and a Masters of Urban Planning from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at New York University. Monique Harden is the co-director and attorney of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights (AEHR), a nonprofit, public interest law firm in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA that she co-founded with attorney Nathalie Walker in 2002. AEHR is dedicated to upholding our human right to live in a healthy environment. On behalf of African Americans living in the historic community of Mossville, Louisiana, Ms. Harden and AEHR legal staff filed the first ever human rights petition that seeks fundamental change of the United States environmental regulatory system. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States recently deemed the petition to be admissible for a review on the merits, marking the first time that an international human rights body has taken jurisdiction over a case of environmental racism in the United States. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil drilling disaster, AEHR is spearheading advocacy aimed at protecting the basic right of people harmed by a disaster to recovery with dignity and justice. Ms. Harden coordinates diverse coalitions advocating for human rights.

Kaleema Haidera Al-Nur is a Grady baby from Atlanta, Georgia. Her parents were human rights activists in prisoner rights, racial justice and womens rights. Kaleema holds a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law. She completed legal co-ops with the Serious Felony Division of the North Carolina Office of the Public Defender in Charlotte; the Womens Rights and Gender Unit of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in San Jose, Costa Rica. She is Creative Director of The Laughing Girl Group, a consulting and creative firm for non-profits and renaissance talents. Currently Kaleema is consulting for the US Human Rights Network to develop a National Plan of Action for Racial Justice. M. Thandabantu Iverson is a human rights activist, teacher, and writer from Gary, Indiana. Since 1997, Thandabantu has taught in the Labor Studies Program at Indiana University Northwest. Prof. Iverson teaches courses on U.S. labor history; race, class, gender and work; human rights; workplace discrimination; labor and society; contemporary labor problems; sexual harassment; and contemporary social movements. Dr. Iverson has been involved in social movement activism since the 1960s, working within the Civil Rights, Black Power, African Liberation Support, and New Left Movements. Prior to joining the faculty of the IU Labor Studies Program, Thandabantu worked as a Health and Safety Organizer at the Southern Regional Office of the Service Employees' International Union (SEIU). He has also worked as a stage hand and decorator in the International Association of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE); as a cook and butcher; as a coal miner in the United Mine Workers (UMWA); as a steelworker in the United Steelworkers of America (USWA); as an auto worker in the United Auto Workers (UAW); as a child and family counselor; a furniture worker; and an elementary and middleschool teacher. Thandabantu is currently on the board of the African American Policy Forum, and he is a former board member for the U.S. Human Rights Network.

Since 1991, Nathalie Walker has provided legal counsel and advocacy support that have helped community organizations win important environmental justice victories. In 2002, Ms. Walker, along with Monique Harden, co-founded Advocates for Environmental Human Rights (AEHR). AEHR is a nonprofit, public interest law firm whose mission is to provide legal services, community organizing support, public education, and advocacy campaigns focused on defending and advancing the human right to a healthy environment, and advocating for the human rights of internally displaced Gulf Coast hurricane survivors. Ms. Walker is a graduate of Tulane University Law School (1981), and received an M.A. (1973) and B.A. (1972) from the University of Michigan.