Karin Ryan

Director, Human Rights Program

Karin Ryan was named director of the Center's Human Rights Program Sept. 1, 2006, having worked for the Center in a variety of roles since April 1988.

As director, Ms. Ryan works with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Mrs. Rosalynn Carter on a range of issues, including assisting their efforts on behalf of victims of human rights violations through personal interventions with heads of state.

She has represented the Center in many international negotiations, including the International Criminal Court, the human rights of women, the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, and most recently on the establishment of a U.N. Human Rights Council and has worked closely with the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to organize expert consultations designed to strengthen the role of the OHCHR within the United Nations system.

Ryan earned bachelor's degrees in political science from Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., and in contemporary writing and production from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass.

She has participated in the Center's election observation missions to Haiti, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Nigeria. She has also coordinated the Human Rights Defenders Policy Forum from 2003-2006, 2007, 2008, and 2011, whose aim is to support those on the frontlines of the struggle for human rights and democracy all over the world.