Prior to working with IHRFG, Zara was an intern with UN Women’s Asia Pacific & Arab States Section in New York. Zara has also interned with the Advocates for Human Rights and volunteered at the Center for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis. Zara holds a BA in International Studies and Classics from Macalester College and a Master’s Degree from Harvard University in Middle Eastern Studies. While doing her Master’s, Zara spent the summer of 2010 in Cairo doing fieldwork for her thesis examining the humanitarian assistance available to the Sudanese refugee community in Egypt as well as the long-term impacts of displacement on the community.

Mona Chun
Deputy Director

Prior to joining IHRFG, Mona was the founding Executive Director of the Center for Sustainable Human Rights Action, an organization providing capacity-building training to human rights groups and leaders around the world. More recently, Mona was the Director of Outreach and Communication at the Coro New York Leadership Center. Mona has served on the Board of Directors of the New York Chinese Cultural Center and on the Advisory Board of Adilisha, a human rights capacity-building organization in Southern Africa. She has a BA from Hofstra University and an MPA from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York.

Christen Dobson
Program Coordinator 

Before joining IHRFG, Christen was a consultant with the Social Science Research Council’s Gender and Security program. Christen has also worked with UNIFEM, Safe Horizon's Anti-Trafficking Program, Global Youth Connect and The Project to End Human Trafficking. She has volunteered with Cambodian NGO Khemara, and most recently, the U.S. National Committee for UNIFEM. Christen holds a BA in International Studies and Japanese from Mount Union College and a Master’s of International Affairs with a concentration in human rights from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York.

Michael J. Hirschhorn
Executive Director
(and President, Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation)

Prior to directing IHRFG, Michael was Executive Director of the Coro New York Leadership Center from 2003-2008. Earlier, from 1995-2001, he served as Executive Director of the Literacy Assistance Center in New York City. He was an Assistant to the Chancellor of the NYC Public Schools and a Visiting Non-Profit Executive at Yale’s School of Management. Michael serves as President of the trustees of the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation, and also serves on the boards of several rights-related and educational non-profit organizations. Michael received his BA from Yale University in 1981 and his MBA & MSW from Columbia University in 1989. He has served on IHRFG’s steering committee since 2002.

Azeen Salimi
Program Manager

Prior to IHRFG, Azeen served as the manager of the Senior Fellows Program at the Synergos Institute, where she led programs for a global network of 100 civil society leaders from 34 countries. Azeen previously worked with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the United States, Sudan, Bangladesh, and Burma (Myanmar); the New York Legal Aid Society's Immigration Unit; and the Committee to Protect Journalists. Currently, Azeen is also an assistant editor with the Interdisciplinary Journal of Human Rights Law. Azeen holds a Bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and a Master’s degree with a concentration in human rights from the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York.

Nadia Zaidi
Program Coordinator

Before joining IHRFG, Nadia managed the immigration programs of corporate clients at an international law firm, and was a volunteer attorney at the Legal Aid Society of New York. While in law school, she served as a research assistant to an international human rights scholar and participated in an advanced international human rights seminar. Nadia holds a BA from Temple University and a JD from New York Law School. She is admitted to the New York and New Jersey state bars and is also a member of the International Human Rights Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Nadia also works with Kids in Need of Defense, providing pro bono legal services to unaccompanied minors.