Update | Staff | Interns | Vol­un­teers

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Staff Update

The Insti­tute for Jus­tice & Democ­racy in Haiti (IJDH) and IJDH’s Haiti-based affil­i­ate, the Bureau des Avo­cats Inter­na­tionaux (BAI) grew sig­nif­i­cantly in 2009. This expan­sion, made pos­si­ble by our gen­er­ous donors, is ful­fill­ing our dream of cre­at­ing a corps of trained, moti­vated Hait­ian human rights lawyers and advo­cates.

Staff (IJDH and BAI)

Direc­tors

• Brian Con­can­non Jr., Esq.
• Mario Joseph, Av.

Haiti-Based Staff

• Ouvens Jean Lois, Av.
• Charle­magne Michel, Av.
• Jocie Philis­ten
• Baze­lais Thevenot, Av.

United States-Based Staff

• Blaine Bookey, Esq.
• Steve Forester, Esq.
• Lily Fried­man
• Nicole Phillips, Esq.
• Marcy Strazer

Direc­tors

Brian Con­can­non, Jr., Esq., IJDH Direc­tor, co-managed the BAI in Haiti for eight years, from 1996–2004, and worked for the United Nations Human as a Human Rights Offi­cer in 1995–1996. He founded IJDH, and has been the Direc­tor since 2004. He helped pre­pare the pros­e­cu­tion of the Raboteau Mas­sacre trial in 2000, one of the most sig­nif­i­cant human rights cases any­where in the West­ern Hemi­sphere. He has rep­re­sented Hait­ian polit­i­cal pris­on­ers before the Inter-American Com­mis­sion on Human Rights, and rep­re­sented the plain­tiff in Yvon Nep­tune v. Haiti, the only Haiti case ever tried before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Mr. Con­can­non has received fel­low­ships from Har­vard Law School and Bran­deis Uni­ver­sity and has trained inter­na­tional judges, U.S. asy­lum offi­cers and law stu­dents across the U.S. He is a mem­ber of the Edi­to­r­ial Board of Health and Human Rights, An Inter­na­tional Jour­nal. He speaks and writes fre­quently about human rights in Haiti. He holds an under­grad­u­ate degree from Mid­dle­bury Col­lege and JD from George­town Law. He speaks Eng­lish, Hait­ian Cre­ole and French.
Brian@ijdh.org

Mario Joseph, Av., BAI Man­ag­ing Attor­ney, has co-managed or man­aged the BAI since 1996, and has prac­ticed human rights and crim­i­nal law since 1993. The New York Times called him Haiti’s most respected human rights lawyer. He spear­headed the pros­e­cu­tion of the Raboteau Mas­sacre trial in 2000, one of the most sig­nif­i­cant human rights cases any­where in the West­ern Hemi­sphere. He has rep­re­sented dozens of jailed polit­i­cal pris­on­ers, in Hait­ian courts and in com­plaints before the Inter-American Com­mis­sion on Human Rights. In 2009, he received the Judith Lee Stronach Human Rights Award from the Cen­ter for Jus­tice & Account­abil­ity and the Kather­ine and George Alexan­der Human Rights Prize from the Uni­ver­sity of Santa Clara Law School. He has tes­ti­fied as an expert on Hait­ian crim­i­nal pro­ce­dure before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and in U.S. courts, and served on the Hait­ian government’s Law Reform Commission.

Mr. Joseph is also an edu­ca­tor, and a grad­u­ate of Haiti’s Teach­ers’ Col­lege. He has exten­sive expe­ri­ence teach­ing human rights and legal issues to grass­roots advo­cacy orga­ni­za­tions, human rights groups and vic­tims’ orga­ni­za­tions. He appears fre­quently on tele­vi­sion and radio in Haiti to explain legal issues. He speaks Hait­ian Cre­ole, French and English.

Haiti-Based Staff

Ouvens Jean Louis, Av., BAI Staff Attor­ney, is a Hait­ian trained attor­ney based in Hinche in the Cen­tral Plateau region. He joined the BAI in Octo­ber 2009 to imple­ment the Health and Human Rights in Pris­ons Project in Hinche, one of the three pilot loca­tions. He obtained his legal edu­ca­tion at the State Uni­ver­sity Haiti, Hinche School of Law and received his license to prac­tice law in 2008. He has a strong inter­est in pro­mot­ing human rights and mak­ing legal ser­vices acces­si­ble. Prior to join­ing the BAI, he worked with the Office of Legal Assis­tance pro­vid­ing free ser­vices to indi­gent pris­on­ers. Since 2002, Mr. Jean Louis has also worked as a pro­fes­sor of French at a local high school. He speaks Hait­ian Cre­ole, French and English.

Charle­magne Michel, Av., BAI Staff Attor­ney, is a Hait­ian trained attor­ney based in Mire­bal­ais in the Cen­tral Plateau region. He joined the BAI in Feb­ru­ary 2010 to imple­ment the Health and Human Rights in Pris­ons Project in Mire­bal­ais, one of the three pilot loca­tions. He obtained his legal edu­ca­tion at the Gonaïves School of Law and Eco­nom­ics and received his license to prac­tice law in 2008. He also obtained a cer­tifi­cate in Sci­en­tific Research Method­olo­gies from the Cana­dian Uni­ver­sity of Haiti in 2007. Prior to join­ing the BAI, he held a vari­ety of posi­tions includ­ing man­age­ment of SOFPEC (com­mu­nity school teacher sol­i­dar­ity orga­ni­za­tion) and coor­di­na­tion elec­toral activ­i­ties at the Elec­toral Bureau in Boucan-carré, Charlemagne’s home­town. He speaks Hait­ian Cre­ole, French and some English.

Jocie Philis­ten is a long time activist for the rights of Haiti’s poor. She worked with sev­eral part­ners of the Bureau des Avo­cats Inter­na­tionaux (BAI), includ­ing the Sep­tem­ber 30th Foun­da­tion, before join­ing the BAI as a para­le­gal for the Rape Account­abil­ity and Pre­ven­tion Project (RAPP) and as the coor­di­na­tor for sev­eral grass­roots groups. Jocie has a degree in sci­ence eco­nom­ics from the Fac­ulty of Law and Eco­nom­ics, and a degree in min­is­te­r­ial train­ing from the Bour­don The­o­log­i­cal Sem­i­nary. She has par­tic­i­pated in sev­eral inten­sive train­ing pro­grams for the pro­tec­tion and pro­mo­tion of human rights. She co-founded and coor­di­nated the foun­da­tion YAHVE RAPHA and served for two years as the head of the human rights depart­ment of Vision for Haiti and the World. Jocie speaks Hait­ian Cre­ole, French, and English.

Baze­lais Thévenot, Av., BAI Staff Attor­ney, is a Hait­ian trained attor­ney based in Saint Marc in the Art­i­bonite region. He joined the BAI in Octo­ber 2009 to imple­ment the Health and Human Rights in Pris­ons Project in Saint Marc, one of the three pilot loca­tions.  He obtained his legal edu­ca­tion at the State Uni­ver­sity Haiti, Gonaives School of Law and Eco­nomic Sci­ences and received his license to prac­tice law in 2003. He brings nearly a decade of expe­ri­ence work­ing in the area of pol­i­tics and human rights. Mr. Thévenot has held var­i­ous posi­tions as an elec­tion observer and reporter.  Since 2007, he has worked as coun­sel for the City Coun­cil of Saint Marc. And, prior to join­ing the BAI, he worked with the Office of Legal Assis­tance in Saint Marc pro­vid­ing free legal ser­vices to dis­ad­van­taged pris­on­ers and has advo­cated for reform of the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem in Haiti. He has attended var­i­ous train­ings includ­ing sem­i­nars on the Inter-American Sys­tem of Human Rights and Human Rights and Crim­i­nal Pro­ceed­ings. He speaks Hait­ian Cre­ole and French.

United States-Based Staff

Blaine Bookey, Esq., BAI Legal Fel­low and IJDH Devel­op­ment Coor­di­na­tor, joined IJDH full-time in Sep­tem­ber 2009. She is a grad­u­ate, summa cum laude, of the Uni­ver­sity of Cal­i­for­nia, Hast­ings Col­lege of the Law and is admit­ted to prac­tice in Cal­i­for­nia. Dur­ing law school, she worked with IJDH as an intern, directed the Hastings-to-Haiti part­ner­ship and served as Edi­tor in Chief of the Hast­ings Inter­na­tional and Com­par­a­tive Law Review. Blaine holds an under­grad­u­ate degree from North­west­ern Uni­ver­sity in social pol­icy with a dou­ble major in gen­der stud­ies and, prior to law school, worked as a para­le­gal in an immi­gra­tion firm rep­re­sent­ing asy­lum seek­ers. She speaks Eng­lish, Span­ish, French and is learn­ing Hait­ian Cre­ole.
Blaine@ijdh.org

Steve Forester, Esq., IJDH Stop Depor­ta­tions Now! Cam­paign, works to win Tem­po­rary Pro­tected Sta­tus (TPS) and work per­mits for 30,000 non-criminal Haitians due to hur­ri­canes and storms which dev­as­tated Haiti in Fall, 2008. In 2009, he secured pro-TPS edi­to­ri­als in the New York Times, Wash­ing­ton Post, Chicago Tri­bune, San Fran­cisco Chron­i­cle, News­day, Orlando Sen­tinel, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and Miami Her­ald; let­ters from Sen­a­tors Fein­gold, Durbin, Kerry, Kennedy, Gilli­brand, Binga­man, Bill Nel­son, and oth­ers; NYT and St. Peters­burg Times sto­ries; and a National Bar Asso­ci­a­tion res­o­lu­tion urg­ing TPS. In Decem­ber, 2009, he met with DHS and White House offi­cials on ways to grant Haitians work per­mits, and the Miami Her­ald pub­lished his op-ed, “Let Haitians work in dig­nity.” His Jan­u­ary 2009 efforts helped secure a depor­ta­tion halt for TPS-deserving Haitians. On Jan­u­ary 12, 2010, DHS Sec­re­tary Napoli­tano announced TPS for Haitians in the U.S.

He has tes­ti­fied before the Sen­ate For­eign Rela­tions and other bod­ies, led the fight which secured the Hait­ian Refugee Immi­gra­tion Fair­ness Act of 1998 (HRIFA), and has worked for Hait­ian immi­grant rights since 1979.
SteveForester@aol.com

Lily Fried­man, IJDH Com­mu­ni­ca­tions Asso­ciate is a recent grad­u­ate, magna cum laude, of Brown Uni­ver­sity where she earned a degree  in Human Health and Dis­ease, with a focus on health dis­par­i­ties.  She is deeply com­mit­ted to advo­cat­ing for the human right to health.  Prior to join­ing the IJDH team, Lily vol­un­teered for Project HEALTH (Help­ing Empower, Advo­cate and Lead Through Health), a non­profit orga­ni­za­tion that works to break the links between poverty and poor health.  She con­ducted an inde­pen­dent study project in Mata­galpa, Nicaragua about the struc­tural causes of mater­nal mor­tal­ity and one organization’s efforts to pre­vent mater­nal death.  In 2008, Lily worked as a field orga­nizer for Barack Obama’s pres­i­den­tial cam­paign, coor­di­nat­ing the grass­roots vol­un­teer effort for three cities.
Lily@ijdh.org

Nicole Phillips, IJDH Staff Attor­ney has always been pas­sion­ate about inter­na­tional human rights and was so moved by the earth­quake in Haiti that she left her career as a union labor lawyer to join IJDH in April 2010. Her prac­tice included ten years with Wein­berg, Roger & Rosen­feld in the San Fran­cisco Bay Area, where she served as gen­eral coun­sel to unions and employee ben­e­fit trust funds across the coun­try, arbi­trated col­lec­tive bar­gain­ing dis­putes, and man­aged a case­load in fed­eral and state courts involv­ing labor, employ­ment, health insur­ance, and envi­ron­men­tal reg­u­la­tions. She has been a fel­low at Leonard, Carder, Nathan, Zuck­er­man, Ross, Chin & Remar, interned with the Legal Aid Soci­ety of San Fran­cisco, Employ­ment Law Cen­ter and San Fran­cisco Dis­trict Attorney’s Office, served as an inves­ti­ga­tor at the Depart­ment of Labor Employ­ment Ben­e­fits Admin­is­tra­tion, and coun­seled vic­tims of domes­tic vio­lence at the YWCA and San Diego City Attorney’s Office. Ms. Phillips has appeared before the United Nations Human Rights Com­mit­tee, Com­mit­tee on the Elim­i­na­tion of all Forms of Dis­crim­i­na­tion and Com­mis­sion on the Sta­tus of Women on var­i­ous human rights issues and serves as Pres­i­dent of the Board of Human Rights Advo­cates, a non-governmental orga­ni­za­tion based in Cal­i­for­nia that has con­sul­ta­tive sta­tus with the United Nations. She first worked with IJDH in 2006 while direct­ing the USF School of Law, Cen­ter for Law and Global Justice’s Haiti and Domini­can Repub­lic human rights pro­grams, which she con­tin­ues to do. Ms. Phillips has lived and stud­ied in France and Mex­ico and speaks French and Span­ish (and hopes to mas­ter Cre­ole soon).
Nicole@ijdh.org

Marcy Strazer, IJDH Admin­is­tra­tive Con­sul­tant, has worked with IJDH since 2005 help­ing with news briefs, finan­cial man­age­ment, devel­op­ment, fundrais­ing and var­i­ous admin­is­tra­tive tasks. She lived and worked in Haiti for six years. She was the Oxfam GB (Great Britain) Haiti Direc­tor from 1997–2000 and had been a Human Rights Observer with the OAS/UN Mis­sion in Haiti from 1993–1996. Prior, she served as a Peace Corps Vol­un­teer work­ing with fish farm­ers in the Demo­c­ra­tic Repub­lic of the Congo (for­merly Zaire) from 1989–1991. Marcy holds a Mas­ters degree in Applied Eco­nom­ics from Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan and a B.S. from Uni­ver­sity of Ore­gon in eco­nom­ics and his­tory. She speaks Hait­ian Cre­ole, French and Kikongo (cen­tral Africa).

Interns

• Boaz Anglade, Eco­nom­ics Intern
• Sarah Dougherty, MPH, JD Can­di­date, Legal Intern
• Christo­pher Eves, Tech­nol­ogy Intern
• Seher Khawaja, Esq., Legal Fellow
• Alexa Lehman, Social Media Intern

Vol­un­teers

Given our small office and high vol­ume of work, we depend heav­ily on vol­un­teers for whom we are eter­nally grate­ful. Click here to see how to get involved. Click here for our Zanmi IJDH page and read about some of our most cre­ative volunteers.