ESCR-Net Secretariat

Chris was appointed executive director in 2012, having served as an ESCR-Net program officer from 2004-2007, focused on corporate accountability, economic policy, and women and ESCR. He has facilitated political education, research, and grassroots organizing in the US, as well as Cambodia, India and Romania. Chris holds graduate degrees in international affairs (Columbia University) and anthropology (The Graduate Center, CUNY) and has taught courses in social theory, anthropology, history and human rights.
 

Fernando is the coordinator of the Strategic Litigation Working Group. Prior to joining ESCR-Net, he was involved in human rights litigation, fact-finding, research, and advocacy at several NGOs and academic institutions in Brazil and the United States. This work centered around tackling police and prison abuse, promoting indigenous land rights, and building access to justice. He holds a JD (Harvard Law School) and an AB in Public and International Affairs (Princeton University). He has taught courses on human rights advocacy, the inter-American human rights system, and human rights and criminal justice issues.
 

Maru is the Legal Fellow of the Strategic Litigation Working Group. She holds a JD from CUNY School of Law and a BA in Latin American Studies and International Studies from Macalester College. Prior to joining ESCR-Net, Maru represented clients in wage-theft litigation. She has also been involved in civil rights litigation in the areas of police abuse, disability justice, data privacy, and preserving tenants’ rights to public housing. She is committed to economic justice and to all people’s right to self-determination.
 

Francesca is the coordinator of the Monitoring Working Group. Prior to ESCR-Net she has been involved in research, advocacy and capacity building with grassroots groups, international NGOs and academic institutions, in India, the UK and other European countries. Her work focuses on socioeconomic rights and issues around citizens’ participation in democratic governance. Francesca holds an LLM in International Human Rights Law (University of Galway, Ireland), and a BA in History and Anthropology (University of Padua, Italy).
 

Collins is the coordinator of the Economic Policy and Human Rights Working Group. Prior to joining ESCR-Net, Collins was involved in advancing the economic and social rights of marginalized grassroots communities from a development and economic policy, and human rights lens. He possesses significant experience in research, capacity building, community organizing and movement building. Collins has been engaged in ESCR advocacy at different levels including the UN. He holds a BA in Sustainable Human Development -Social Sciences, from the Catholic University of East Africa (CUEA),  a Certificate in Monitoring and Evaluation from Africa Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) he is currently a  Masters Student in Public Policy and Administration at Kenyatta University in Kenya.

Patricia is the coordinator of the Environment and ESCR Working Group. She is a young Indigenous feminist with over 14 years of contributions to the collective struggles of Indigenous and feminist movements from the local to global level. Prior to joining ESCR-Net, she coordinated advocacy work and led the climate justice team of membership driven organisations working across Asia and the Pacific. Patricia has co-designed Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) with rural and Indigenous Women and coordinated global campaigns on Indigenous Peoples’ rights to land and self-determination. She holds a bachelor degree in criminal law, but more importantly is a product of the political resistance of her own community in Indonesia.
 

Mona is the coordinator of the Corporate Accountability Working Group (CAWG). She previously worked in Geneva and Dublin as an advocate for the rights of communities and human rights defenders in the Middle East and North Africa. For several years, Mona led legal research and advocacy on corporate accountability and colonial practices of dispossession impacting human rights in Palestine, as well as serving on the CAWG Steering Committee. She holds an LLM in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (University of Essex) and BA in International Relations and Politics (Earlham College).
 

Ruben is the Membership and Solidarity Coordinator. His work focuses on membership engagement, outreach and our network’s System of Solidarity (SOS). Prior to joining ESCR-Net, he worked for several years with human rights campaigning, activism and organizing in Puerto Rico and Denmark. Ruben holds a Master of Development and International Relations from Aalborg University in Denmark.

Alejandra is the coordinator of the Women and ESCR Working Group. For more than 20 years, Alejandra has been a passionate feminist, advancing advocacy, movement building, and organizing for gender and economic justice in Latin America and globally. She is committed to ensuring that feminist demands and visions guide development debates and systemic alternatives. She has also worked as an advocate for corporate accountability and environmental rights. She holds a graduate degree in education (UCUDAL, Uruguay) and has completed courses on gender, development, and feminist theory.
 

Basma is the Campaign and Membership Coordinator. Prior to joining ESCR-Net, Basma worked on issues relating to the US immigration system, leading campaigns aimed at the abolition of the carceral system, including intersectional divestment campaigns. She has been involved in the immigrant worker justice movement, supporting the decriminalization of street vending and other precarious forms of work. She is deeply committed to indigenous liberation and has organized in solidarity with the Palestine refugee community in Lebanon since 2012. She received an MSc in Labor, Social Movements, and Development from SOAS in 2014. She is based in New York City.
 

Zulekha is the Campaign & Membership Facilitator for Sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to joining ESCR-Net, her work focused on ensuring the poor and marginalized communities in Kenya realize their socio-economic rights through public interest litigation, research and community organizing. She is passionate about socio-economic rights and has led campaigns on the right to education and the right to health in Kenya. Zulekha is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and holds a Master of Laws in Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (University of Essex).

Elena is the Campaign and Membership Facilitator for Latin America and the Caribbean. Prior to joining ESCR-Net, she has worked on advocacy, research and project management with NGOs in Mexico. Her work focuses on corporate accountability, indigenous peoples’ rights, labor rights and human rights defenders’ protection. Elena holds a Bachelor in Political Science and Public Administration and has Specialization studies on Negotiation and Management of Political and Social Conflicts, both from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

Esther de la Rosa is a Spanish journalist with over 15 years of experience using communications as a tool to effect positive social change. In Spain she hosted a community radio show dedicated to women’s struggles for equality, foregrounded under-reported women’s issues in the media and designed and conducted seminars and workshops on gender and communications. Based in New York since 2011, Esther has coordinated communications and developed social media strategy for several organizations. She has been a member of the International Network of Journalists with a Gender Perspective since 2005.
 

Souzen Joseph is a journalist with 17 years of experience and an activist-feminist in Haiti for nearly 20 years. She focuses her work on culture, education, feminism, gender and inclusion. She produced and hosted a radio then-TV program for 4 years on Women's Rights and equality policies (Haiti). She has collaborated with humanitarian organizations in the areas of gender and risk and disaster management, youth engagement and volunteering. She is a founding member of two national Afro-feminist organizations (Haiti) and a member of 3 regional and international feminist organizations and a collective of women in media. She studied Social Communication and Journalism. 
 

Marylu serves as the Communications Assistant. Prior to joining ESCR-Net, she worked for her congressional representative as a communications team member. Marylu has experience working with local non-profits, who advocate for equal access to food, education and a safe environment for disenfranchised communities. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Boston University.

 

Georgia serves the role of Development Associate with ESCR-Net. Prior to joining the Secretariat, she was dedicated to the intersections between women’s rights, labour rights, extractive industries and the environment, working with various NGOs and as a consultant in Toronto, Argentina and Chile. She holds a Master of Arts in Anthropology and International Development (University of Guelph, Canada).
 

Anne is primarily responsible for bookkeeping and office administration for ESCR-Net. Before joining ESCR-Net, Anne worked as administrative and finance officer in the US and Australia, which included roles in budgeting and forecasting processes. She holds dual degrees in accounting and computer science from the University of New England, Australia.
 

Greta serves as the Institutional Development Director. In that role, she provides financial management, oversees logistics and events, and supervises administrative and development staff. Prior to joining ESCR-Net, Greta worked for several years as a paralegal and managed departmental coordination in previous positions. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in International Law, Institutions and Ethics.