Jessica Neuwirth

Jessica Neuwirth is one of the founders and current President of Equality Now, an international human rights organization established in 1992 to work for an end to all forms of violence and discrimination against women. From 1985 to 1990, she worked for Amnesty International in various capacities including Policy Advisor for Amnesty International USA and Tour Producer for Human Rights Now!, an international concert tour commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She subsequently worked in international finance, specializing in sovereign debt restructuring for developing countries as an associate at the law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. She has also worked for the United Nations, most recently as an expert consultant to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on issues of sexual violence in several cases including Akayesu, a landmark decision recognizing rape as a form of genocide, and the Media Case, a decision holding Rwandan media executives accountable for the role of the media in the 1994 genocide. She is currently teaching international women’s rights at Harvard Law School.

Ms. Neuwirth holds a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Yale University.