Karin Ryan

Karin Ryan previously served as the Director of The Carter Center’s Human Rights Program and served as senior human rights advisor to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter for more than 30 years. She led The Carter Center’s work to combat violence against women and sexual exploitation, represented the Center at the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, and contributed to global efforts establishing and strengthening norms on the rights of women and girls. Ms. Ryan assisted President Carter with his writing and public speaking on many topics, including sexual exploitation and violence against women. She worked closely with him to produce his 2014 bestselling book A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power, and drafted opinion pieces for him addressing the root causes of violence against women and the sex trade.

In addition to her efforts to raise awareness about women’s rights, she is an expert on many topics related to human rights and peace, including U.S. foreign policy, the global erosion of rights, the United Nations’ human rights monitoring system, Israel and Palestine, among others. Ms Ryan is a public speaker and writer, contributing to many publications and public discussions on a wide variety of topics.