Rights Working Group Executive Director Renowned Leader in Human Rights Advocacy
Contact: Carol Gregory, [email protected], 202-675-8759, @AIUSAmedia
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) Executive Director Steven W. Hawkins announced today that Margaret Huang, the executive director of Rights Working Group, will join the global human rights organization on January 6, 2014 as Deputy Executive Director of Campaigns and Programs. Huang will be based in Washington, D.C.
A visionary leader, speaker, and writer, Huang has close to 20 years of experience in human rights advocacy and policy, overseeing national campaigns that have led to advancements in human rights legislation. As the executive director of Rights Working Group, she leads a membership coalition of more than 350 civil liberties, immigrant rights, and human rights organizations that was founded in the aftermath of 9/11 to restore human rights protections eroded by national security policies.
“I am elated to welcome Margaret to Amnesty International USA’s executive leadership team. Her diverse experience and commitment to human rights advocacy embodies Amnesty’s mission and vision,” said Steven W. Hawkins, executive director, Amnesty International USA. “Margaret Huang knows how to build impactful campaigns that will resonate with people from all walks of life and inspire more people to take action in solidarity with those on the front lines of human rights struggles around the world.”
During her tenure as executive director of Rights Working Group (RWG), Huang has led successful campaigns against racial profiling and harsh immigration enforcement. She helped build RWG’s nationally renowned campaign, Racial Profiling: Face the Truth, which seeks to prohibit racial and religious profiling by law enforcement agencies. She also established RWG as a national leader in immigration reform, challenging unfair immigration and border enforcement policies.
Additionally, Huang has given testimony before the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and has written a number of published articles and op-eds on human rights including the chapter, “Going Global – Appeals to International and Regional Human Rights Bodies,” in the 2007 book Bringing Human Rights Home.
“It is never an easy decision to leave an organization that has been both an inspiration and a source of pride. I greatly appreciate the support and encouragement that the members of Rights Working Group have given me in taking this next step,” said Huang. “Joining Amnesty International USA is an incredible opportunity to work with a powerful team of members and staff and to have an impact on the most pressing human rights issues of our day. Amnesty International has inspired my activism and motivated me as a human rights defender for many years. I’m thrilled to be joining the organization and to oversee its campaigns linking human rights in the U.S. with the global human rights movement.”
Previously, Huang served as Director of U.S. Program at Global Rights, Program Director of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights, Program Manager at the Asia Foundation, and as a Committee Staff for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She received a Masters of International Affairs from Columbia University, and a B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University.
Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million members in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth, and dignity are denied.