Paul O’Brien

Paul O’Brien has been the Executive Director at Amnesty International USA, based in Washington, DC since April 2021.  Previously, Paul worked at Oxfam.  Before he left Oxfam, he co-led their worldwide influencing network’s efforts to change government policies, corporate practice and public opinion related to pandemic response. For the previous decade, he oversaw Oxfam America’s advocacy with the US government and corporations. He has been an advisor to the President of Afghanistan, the Africa Policy Advisor for CARE, and an organizer in Nairobi’s informal urban settlements. He co-founded a community organizing institution in Kenya and a human rights research consortium in Afghanistan. He was the President of the Echoing Green Foundation, a litigator in New York for Cravath, Swaine and Moore. He has a JD from Harvard Law School and has published on power and rights for more than three decades.  Before joining Amnesty, he published “Power Switch” How We Can Reverse Extreme Inequality.”