Sumudu Atapattu, Savi Bisnath, Ayça Çubukçu, and Gaby Oré-Aguilar join our Board to strengthen our mission to advance human rights and build a just global economy. At the same time, Rosa Pavanelli, a longstanding and dedicated member of the Board, has been appointed as Chair. We are profoundly grateful to the departing members who completed their tenure at CESR, Imad Sabi, John Green, and Karin Lissakers, for their invaluable contributions to our work.
We are delighted to announce that our Board is welcoming four new members who bring exceptional expertise and diverse perspectives to guide our organizational strengthening:
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Dr. Savi Bisnath, new Board Treasurer, is the Senior Director of Global Policy at the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy at The New School. She is the former Senior Economist with the Surge Initiative at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Savi is a feminist economist with over 25 years of experience working on issues related to international trade, development planning, economic justice, and women’s rights from an intersectional perspective. Her work has also addressed conflict and natural disasters across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, the UK, and the US.
She is accomplished in macroeconomic research and policy analysis and has demonstrated a strong ability to bridge the interests of diverse stakeholders, build teams, and foster collaborative efforts. Savi has worked with academic institutions, civil society organizations, philanthropic entities, and multilateral institutions.
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Dr. Ayça Çubukçu is an Associate Professor in Human Rights at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she served as the Co-Director of LSE Human Rights for six years (2018-2024). Dr. Çubukçu leads the Internationalism, Cosmopolitanism, and Politics of Solidarity research group at the LSE. A scholar committed to public engagement, she has contributed op-eds to The Guardian, Al Jazeera English, The Boston Review and many other publications, and has appeared on BBC2’s Newsnight, BBC3’s Free Thinking, and BBC Arabic’s television programs. She is an expert in human rights, cosmopolitanism, internationalism, postcolonial studies, political violence, and transnational social movements. She co-edits Humanity: An International Journal of Human Rights, Humanitarianism and Development, as well as the LSE International Studies Series at Cambridge University Press.
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Dr. Sumudu Anopama Atapattu is a Teaching Professor and Director of the Global Legal Studies Center at the University of Wisconsin (UW) Law School. She also serves as the Executive Director of the Human Rights Program at UW-Madison. Additionally, she is an affiliated faculty member at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights in Sweden, Lead Counsel for Human Rights at the Center for International Sustainable Development Law in Canada, and a member of the advisory board for several journals, including the McGill International Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy.
Dr. Atapattu has participated in several UN climate COP meetings and expert consultations and taught blended learning courses on human rights and the environment in Asia organized by the Raoul Wallenberg Institute for Human Rights. Her research focuses on the intersection of human rights and the environment, particularly climate change, migration, and small island states.
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Gaby Oré Aguilar is a Senior Program Officer at the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, where she manages a global grantmaking portfolio focused on economic policy, natural resource rights, and gender equality. Previously, she was Deputy Executive Director at the Center for Economic and Social Rights and has held leadership roles in international philanthropy and nonprofits across Latin America and globally. She has also taught at institutions such as the European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation and published extensively on economic justice, gender equality, and human rights. Gaby holds an LLM from Columbia University Law School, a JD and BA from the National University of San Marcos, and a Diploma in Gender Studies from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.
Rosa Pavanelli, a longstanding and committed member of the Board, has been appointed as Chair. Rosa brings a wealth of experience and leadership to this role. She served as General Secretary of the global union federation Public Services International (PSI) for 11 years, where she represented 20 million public service workers in 150 countries. Throughout her career, she has championed human rights, social justice, and universal access to quality public services.
The Board’s leadership has also been strengthened with Fatimah Kelleher assuming the role of Vice Chair and Carla García Zendejas continuing as Secretary. Fatimah is a feminist political economist, activist, and advisor with over 20 years of experience working globally across Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. A Pan-African feminist, she specializes in gender and economic rights and justice, with expertise in feminist macroeconomics and alternatives to traditional economic models. Carla is an environmental and human rights attorney with over 20 years of experience. As Director for the People, Land & Resources Program at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), she leads legal strategies and campaigns to protect human rights, ensure corporate accountability, and support communities seeking remedy through litigation and advocacy.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our departing board members, who completed their terms after many years of sharing their knowledge and experience to guide CESR through key moments in our development:
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Imad Sabi served for 9 years on the Board, 4 of which were as Chair. His leadership allowed us to successfully navigate the leadership transition, among other challenges.
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John T. Green served on the Board as treasurer for 10 years and as board secretary for 2 years. His ample experience in financial management guided our organization's financial governance for over a decade.
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Karin Lissakers served for 9 years on the board, 4 of which were as vice-chair. Using her background in economic governance and fundraising, Karin contributed to ensuring CESR's transparency, accountability, and financial sustainability.
They will join CESR’s advisory council to continue sharing their expertise and commitment to our goals.
We remain committed to transforming the world's economic system as we welcome new voices to our leadership and bid farewell to those who have served. For the first time in our history, CESR’s Board is now composed entirely of women—a milestone that reflects our commitment to feminist leadership. Together, we look forward to building on the foundation of collaboration, creativity, and bold action that has defined our work.