Elisa
Massimino

Senior Fellow

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Elisa Massimino

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Elisa Massimino is a senior fellow at American Progress. She is also a visiting professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where she directs the Human Rights Institute and serves as a senior research fellow with the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. Massimino served as Georgetown’s 2019–2021 Robert F. Drinan, S.J., chair in human rights and was recently a senior fellow for human rights policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Previously, Massimino spent 27 years—the last decade as president and CEO—at Human Rights First, one of the nation’s leading human rights advocacy organizations. 

Massimino has a distinguished record of human rights advocacy in Washington. She has testified before Congress dozens of times; writes frequently for mainstream publications and specialized journals; appears regularly in major media outlets; and speaks to audiences around the country. During her leadership at Human Rights First, the influential Washington publication The Hill consistently named her one of the most effective public advocates in the country.

The daughter of a nuclear submarine commander, Massimino was instrumental in Human Rights First’s effort to assemble a group of retired generals and admirals to speak publicly against policies authorizing the torture of prisoners in U.S. custody. This coalition of military leaders played a pivotal role in restoring compliance with the Geneva Conventions.

Massimino is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the U.S. Supreme Court Bar. She holds a law degree from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in philosophy from Johns Hopkins University, and she is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Trinity University.

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It’s time to close Guantanamo In the News

It’s time to close Guantanamo

Elisa Massimino argues for the closure of the U.S. prison in Guantanamo, which, she writes, has become "a moral, legal, strategic, and financial sinkhole for our country."

CNN

Elisa Massimino

The war isn’t over, but Ukraine is already prosecuting Russian crimes In the News

The war isn’t over, but Ukraine is already prosecuting Russian crimes

Gregg Bloche, Mark Fallon, and Elisa Massimino explain why Ukraine will be a proving ground for the proposition that a nation victimized by an aggressor can be capable of fairly meting out justice.

The Washington Post

Gregg Bloche, Mark Fallon, Elisa Massimino

Redefining Homeland Security: A New Framework for DHS To Meet Today’s Challenges Report

Redefining Homeland Security: A New Framework for DHS To Meet Today’s Challenges

To meet the challenges of today, the Biden administration and Congress should reform the Department of Homeland Security around a mission that highlights safety and services alongside its traditional protecting roles.

Mara Rudman, Rudy deLeon, Joel Martinez, 5 More Elisa Massimino, Silva Mathema, Katrina Mulligan, Alexandra Schmitt, Philip E. Wolgin

Protecting Ethiopian Refugees — and Averting the Next Crisis In the News

Protecting Ethiopian Refugees — and Averting the Next Crisis

As the refugee crisis in Ethiopia worsens, authors Elisa Massimino and Alexandra Schmitt explain why the United States must take a leading role in building a flexible, inclusive, and sustainable system to protect the forcibly displaced.

Just Security

Elisa Massimino, Alexandra Schmitt

Human rights lessons of the pandemic In the News

Human rights lessons of the pandemic

Elisa Massimino and Alexandra Schmitt explain how human rights violations have hindered the global response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Hill

Alexandra Schmitt, Elisa Massimino

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