Mia joined René Cassin in June 2015 bringing with her an in-depth knowledge of international human rights work and experience in human rights education, campaigning and organisational development, acquired over 15 years while working for Amnesty International.

Mia has a BA in international relations and an MA in international law from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. She is a graduate fellow of the Minerva Centre for Human Rights at the Hebrew University and graduate fellow of Wizo’s Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Programme. Mia is also an alumnus of the first Dangoor Senior Leadership Programme for lay and professional leaders in the Jewish community, 2018-2019.

Mia a trustee of the Coalition for Genocide Response, Director of Stop Uyghur Genocide and is on the advisory council of the World Uyghur Congress UK and Burst the Bubble UK.

Mia is the proud mother of Lyri, Yuval and Daniel and has lived in the UK since 2004 with her partner Amir.

Danny comes to the role with significant non-executive and executive experience, including roles on BIG Lottery Fund’s England Committee, the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit, the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 and Social Enterprise London.

Danny was Chief Executive at Interights, an international human rights charity and the Commission for Racial Equality, the UK’s statutory agency for enhancing and enforcing equal rights for minority communities.

Jeff is a financial executive and company secretary, and worked for over thirty years in the occupational pensions industry. He retired from his position in the Finance and Accounting team at the Pension Protection Fund in 2018.

Jeff has long been active in his local community, as treasurer, council member and co-chair of Mosaic Jewish Community in Harrow.

On his appointment as René Cassin trustee and treasurer, Jeff said:

“René Cassin is a unique organisation that carries out a vital mission, exactly at the point where two of my passions intersect, my Jewish life and the pursuit of human rights. I hope I can use my financial and governance experience to support the organisation in the next stage of its development, at a time when the need for a Jewish perspective on human rights issues has never been greater.”

Annette has many years of experience working for women’s equality, empowerment and advancement. She is currently Ambassador for the National Alliance of Women’s Organisations (NAWO), was Co-Chair and founder of the UK Civil Society Women’s Alliance (UKCSWA) and is founder and Chair of the Judith Trust.

Danielle is a fundraiser with over ten years’ experience in the non-profit sector. Starting out as a face-to-face fundraiser, she has gone on to manage high profile fundraising events, operations and charity governance, HR, and individual supporter cultivation.

She is motivated by a core belief that to be a fundraiser – to show individuals how they can have an impact on an issue that they care about and help to facilitate this for them – is a true privilege. Danielle is excited to bring her passion for justice and human rights to support the great work of René Cassin.

Jonathan is a barrister at 1 Crown Office Row. He appears regularly in court on complex cases and also prepares arguments and advices in writing.

Jonathan’s practice has a firm human rights focus. His areas of specialism include asylum and immigration, where he represents individuals seeking protection from persecution from a variety of different countries, or relying on their right to private and family life in the UK. He also regularly acts in inquests and clinical negligence claims, including in cases investigating potential failings by institutions in protecting an individual’s right to life where it was at risk.

Jonathan is also the Commissioning Editor of the UK Human Rights Blog, a resource run by barristers at 1 Crown Office Row, which provides updates on important legal developments to an annual readership of over 600,000 website views.

These experiences have given Jonathan a detailed understanding of how human rights operate in practice and reaffirmed his commitment to the protection of these fundamental rights.

Jonathan also has a strong commitment to voluntary and pro bono work. In 2018 he was nominated as Young Pro Bono Barrister of the Year at the Bar Pro Bono Awards.

Abigail studied at Sidney Sussex College at the Cambridge University where she founded women’s theatre company Trouble and Strife. From 1992 until 2000 she was the artistic director and chief executive of Soho Theatre. Before joining the Jewish Museum London in 2012 she was chief executive of women’s refuge Jewish Women’s Aid in London and think tank ResponseAbility. She is a board member of the Association of European Jewish Museums.

Debora has been working part-time at René Cassin since July 2019. As Safeguarding Human Rights Lead her focus is on protecting and promoting the human rights framework in the UK. Debora’s background is in policy and campaigning for the rights of women seeking asylum at Asylum Aid and for survivors of sexual and domestic violence whilst at Victim Support. Debora’s family were refugees from Nazi Germany and this underlies her passion for human rights. In 2012 she was awarded an MBE for services to women.

Łucja joined René Cassin in October 2022, having graduated with a BA in Religion, Philosophy and Ethics from KCL and an MA in Human Rights from UCL.

After the growing number of women’s rights violations occurring in Poland during the pandemic, Łucja became more passionate about raising awareness of gender-based violence. She also has a vast interest and experience in refugee and asylum seeker rights.

Rachel’s background is in student organising on sex and gender based violence prevention and her current specialist research areas include sexual violence prevention in higher education.

Guided by the values of justice and fairness she learned in her Jewish youth movement, Rachel has been working on bringing awareness of domestic abuse and sexual violence to the Jewish community, working especially with young adults and youth leaders. She is currently completing her MA in Gender Studies and will be published in a book of essays on sexual violence prevention later in 2021.

Sam joined René Cassin in July 2014, from JUSTICE where he was Director of Promotion and Production. He was previously Head of Marketing at Legal Action Group, Administrator at Doughty Street Chambers and Membership and IT Systems Manager at Liberty (National Council for Civil Liberties).

Sam works part-time and is usually in the René Cassin office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Sheldon is a retired London Teaching Hospital Stroke Specialist, General Physician, Academic and Governor. His research focused on hand-hygiene and included ensuring that alcohol hand-rub be by every patient’s bed.

A Rene Cassin Human Rights Fellowship alumnus, since retiring he has been a founding member and advisor to Stop Uyghur Genocide, and campaigned against Israel’s judicial reforms with DefendDemocracyUK.

Enthusiastically modern orthodox, Sheldon admires the way René Cassin represents the Jewish voice of human rights in the UK through the prism of Jewish experience.

Nicholas retired as a partner in the London office of a large international law firm in 2019. He has been active in the field of human rights and the rule of law for many years. He joins Rene Cassin as a trustee believing that human rights and the rule of law are at the heart of Judaism, and that Jewish history and lived experience inform our understanding of the impact of human rights and the rule of law on the world.

Josh provides advisory services to charities and international organisations in the interfaith and education spaces including:  Holocaust Memorial Day, Plan4Peace, the Sigmund Sternberg Charitable Foundation, Culham St Gabriel’s, the OSCE/ODIHR, the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations, the British Council’s Bridging Voices Programme, the Faith and Belief Forum, the Forum for Discussion of Israel and Palestine (Fodip), the Encompass Trust and St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace.

He has a particular interest in and expertise on matters relating to Article 18, Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) on which he has worked for many years. He is regularly invited to contribute to FoRB-related processes, particularly the intersection of FoRB with matters relating to education, dialogue and interfaith processes, by organisations including the FCDO and OSCE/ODIHR.

He holds an MA in International Studies and Diplomacy from SOAS, University of London where he wrote his dissertation on embedding religious literacy best practice within Ministries of Foreign Affairs. He is also an alum of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Fellowship programme and the Rene Cassin Human Rights Fellowship.

Josh lives in London with his two sons. Nat, to whom Josh was married, died in 2023 after living with cancer for three years.

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Elliot is an English Olivier Award winning actor.