Center for Gender and Refugee Studies

The Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) "is the nation’s leading organization supporting women asylum-seekers fleeing gender related harm, at both the practice and policy levels. CGRS works to impact the development of law and policy to protect women fleeing gender-based violence.

"Gender asylum currently represents the cutting edge issue in the development of refugee law, and CGRS is playing a central role in shaping the legal definition and ensuring that the United States offers asylum protection to women who flee serious violations of their fundamental human rights. Established in 1999 and housed at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, CGRS has as its overarching objectives to positively impact decisions in individual cases, while influencing the overall development of the law nationally and internationally."

Staff
Accessed November 2008:


 * Karen Musalo - Director
 * Lisa Frydman - Managing Attorney.
 * Kim Thuy Seelinger
 * Allison Davenport - Staff Attorney.
 * Dan De Vries - Director of Development and Communications.
 * Diana Rodriguez-Wong - Program and Communications Associate.
 * Lauren Markham - Program / Administrative Assistant.

Advisory Board
Accessed November 2008:


 * Denise Abrams, Partner - Kazan, McClain, Abrams, Fernandez, Lyons, Greenwood & Harley
 * Rodi Alvarado, Refugee
 * Lina Avidan, Program Executive - Zellerbach Family Foundation
 * Richard Boswell, Professor, University of California, Hastings College of the Law
 * Inger Brinck, Advisor
 * Sara Campos, Bay Area Lawyer and Writer
 * Sheila Dauer, Director - Women’s Human Rights Program, Amnesty International USA
 * Janet Dench, Executive Director, Canadian Council for Refugees
 * Jayne Fleming, West Coast Pro Bono Coordinator, Reed Smith
 * Pamela Goldberg, Protection Officer, United Nations HIgh Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
 * Fauziya Kassindja, Refugee
 * Minette Kwok, Partner, Minami Tamaki LLP
 * Susan Martin, Director, Institute of International Migration, Georgetown University
 * Bernadette Passade Cisse, Independent Contractor/Writer
 * Rebecca Wallace, Professor of International Human Rights Law, Robert Gordon University, Scotland, UK

Funders
Accessed November 2008:


 * Altria Group, Inc.
 * California Health Care Foundation, Oakland, CA
 * Firedoll Foundation
 * Ford Foundation
 * Funding Exchange
 * Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
 * Kazan, McClain, Abrams, Fernandez, Lyons, Greenwood & Harley Foundation
 * Institute of International Education
 * Moriah Fund
 * van Löben Sels/ RembeRock Foundation
 * Bernard E. and Alba Witkin Charitable Trust

Contact

 * Web: http://cgrs.uchastings.edu