Mariam Memarsadeghi

Biographical Information
"Mariam Memarsadeghi advises human rights and democracy organizations internationally and is an outspoken advocate for women's rights and civil liberties in Islamic contexts. She is an expert on free media and internet initiatives for repressive regime contexts and founded the bi-lingual web magazine Gozaar: A Journal on Democracy and Human Rights in Iran while serving as Senior Program Manager at Freedom House.

"Ms. Memarsadeghi has helped international organizations and grassroots groups to promote civic voice and accountable government in varied cultural contexts, including the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and China, as well as countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa. She has analyzed civic struggles for human rights and democratic rule for publications and for media outlets such as the PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer as well as Persian and Arabic language radio and television channels.

"She is a frequent speaker at international research institutes such as Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC, the Clingendael Institute for International Affairs at The Hague, the Danish Institute for Human Rights in Copenhagen, and Aspen Institute in Berlin. She has worked for the International Organization for Migration and the International Rescue Committee in conflict and post-conflict contexts, providing humanitarian aid, community rehabilitation and democratization assistance.

"Ms. Memarsadeghi has been jointly recognized as a "Transatlantic Young Leader" by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the German Marshall Fund, and was awarded an educational grant from The Washington Post. She studied political science and political theory at Dickinson College (BA) and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst(MA). She was born in Tehran, Iran and emigrated to the US during the Iranian Revolution. She has traveled back to Iran several times since, and has also lived and worked in Italy, Germany, Kosovo and Macedonia. She is fluent in English and her native Persian, and conversant in French, German and Italian. "


 * Cofounder, Online Activism Institute
 * Program Director, Center for Liberty in the Middle East