Social Justice at Home and U.S. Influence Abroad – Virtual Program

This is a virtual program, instructions on how to join this meeting will be sent the day before the event.

The United States has long championed the promotion of human rights and democracy abroad. But the world watched—and in many places joined in—as widespread protests took place in every U.S. state over the summer against police violence and systemic racism at home. Can the United States still press for democratic values? Does it still hold the moral high ground to seek the respect of human rights around the world while our own democratic foundation appears weaker? Join the World Affairs Council for a panel discussion with Uzra Zeya, president and chief executive officer at the Alliance for Peacebuilding; Bishop Garrison, Director of National Security Outreach at Human Rights First; and moderator Nicole Bibbins Sedaca, professor of the practice of International Affairs at Georgetown University, on the global consequences of domestic unrest.

About the Speakers
Uzra Zeya is CEO and President of Alliance for Peacebuilding, a leading global network of 120+ organizations working to end violent conflict and sustain peace. Uzra joined AfP in 2019, after a distinguished diplomatic career over two decades on five continents. As Chargé d’Affaires at U.S. Embassy Paris, she achieved unprecedented U.S.-French cooperation on climate change, counterterrorism, and Russia, and was awarded the Légion d’honneur, France’s highest civilian honor. As Acting Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, she expanded public-private partnerships for LGBT equality and against gender-based violence, and led U.S. human rights dialogues with China. She also served at U.S. embassies in India, Syria, Egypt, and Oman, and speaks Arabic, French, and Spanish. She is a Board of Advisors Member for the Georgetown Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a Strategist for the Obama Foundation Scholars Program.

As the Director of National Security Outreach, Bishop Garrison is Human Rights First’s chief ambassador to the national security community. He leads Human Rights First’s efforts to build partnerships with members of the military and national security communities as well as national security-focused think tanks and research institutions. He also leads the project, Veterans for American Ideals, a nonpartisan movement of military veterans who advocate American leadership on human rights.

He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point graduating in 2002. He served two tours in Iraq with the U.S. Army. Following his service, he graduated from the William and Mary School of Law in Williamsburg, VA. He served in the Obama 2012 Re-election Campaign and later in the administration in a variety of national security roles. Following his time in the administration, he served as the Deputy Foreign Policy Adviser on the presidential campaign of Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Bishop is the recipient of two Bronze Stars, a Meritorious Service Medal, and a Combat Action Badge. His civilian accolades and awards include the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service as well as several citations from DHS and the Obama administration. Bishop also received the 2017 Taylor Reveley “Citizen Lawyer” Award from the College of William and Mary Law School.

Currently, he resides in Arlington, Virginia with his family. He enjoys reading, creative writing, exercising, playing sports, and watching football.

About the Moderator
Nicole Bibbins Sedaca is the Deputy Director of the Master of Science in Foreign Service program at Georgetown University, and also serves as the Chair for Global Politics and Security concentration in the program. She is a Pfeil Fellow at the George W Bush Institute and non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. She has held numerous positions in the U.S. Department of State, including Senior Director for Strategic Planning and External Affairs in the Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor and Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs. She directed a local governance project for the International Republican Institute in Quito, Ecuador, where she also worked at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito. Nicole also served as the Director of the Washington DC office of Independent Diplomat, a diplomatic strategy consulting group. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from the College of William and Mary and a Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, and studied at Humboldt Universitaet in Berlin, Germany. She has served on the Boards of the Institute for Global Engagement, Georgetown's School of Foreign Service, Fund for the College of William and Mary, and the Washington Program of the College of William and Mary. She currently resides in McLean, VA with her husband, two sons and daughter.

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