Minky Worden Email Address

Director of Global Initiatives

Human Rights Watch is a non-profit and non-governmental human rights organization.

As Human Rights Watch's Director of Global Initiatives, Minky Worden develops and implements global outreach and advocacy campaigns to advance human rights and entrench international human rights standards through and in sport. She previously served as Human Rights Watch's Media Director, working with the world’s journalists to help them cover crises, wars, human rights abuses and political developments in some 90 countries worldwide, and has worked at Human Rights Watch since 1998. From 1992-1998, Ms. Worden lived and worked in Hong Kong as an adviser to Democratic Party chairman Martin Lee. From 1989-1992, she worked at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. as a speechwriter for U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh. Ms. Worden is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, speaks Cantonese and German, and is an elected member of the Overseas Press Club's Board of Governors. She has written and edited three books: The Unfinished Revolution (Seven Stories Press, 2012), on rights for women and girls globally; China's Great Leap (Seven Stories Press, 2008) on reform in China; and Torture (The New Press, 2005) on ending the global crisis of torture. Since 2013, Worden has taught as an Adjunct Professor at The School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University. She also serves on a number of non-profit boards as board chair and a board member: The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, Board Chair Platon’s People’s Portfolio (non-profit photography), Board Chair The Human Trafficking Legal Center, board member The Overseas Press Club, elected Board member Asia Catalyst, Board member Expertise: Supporting survivors of sexual abuse in sport, helping do-gooders get their messages out to the world; non-profit media training and assistance. Applying the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to global crises such as sport body governance and the crisis of sexual abuse in sport, writing and editing; working with human rights defenders; women's rights, China, Hong Kong and Asia, the Olympics, the World Cup and mega-sporting events.