Human Rights First
Human Rights First is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3), international human rights organization based in New York City, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Its work centers on four main issue areas: authoritarianism, extremism, systemic injustice and the abuse of technology. It closely works with lawyers, veterans and security experts, technologists, and allied advocates to further its policy agenda. In 2004, it launched an "End Torture Now" campaign. The organization also runs the Fighting Discrimination program which focuses on hate crimes.
In January 2026, it became known that the organization had been declared an undesirable in Russia.
Board of directors
Human Rights First is governed by a board of directors composed of 92 members, including a 30-person Board of Advocates and a 13-person Emeritus Board.Members of the board include:
- Jay Carney, Global Head of Policy and Communications at Airbnb
- Sarah Cleveland, Professor of Human and Constitutional Rights Columbia University Law School
- Ben Jealous, Executive Director of the Sierra Club
- Kerry Kennedy, President of RFK Human Rights
- Robert A. Mandell, former List of ambassadors of [the United States to Luxembourg|Ambassador to Luxembourg]; Chairman and CEO of Greater Properties, Inc.
- Carlos Pascual, Senior Vice President at IHS Markit
- Nazanin Rafsanjani, former head of New Show Development at Gimlet Media and Spotify
- Mona Sutphen, Senior Advisor at The Vistria Group