Our LeadershiP
STAFF
STAFF
Co-Executive Director
Sanjay Sethi serves as AFI’s Co-Executive Director, overseeing the coordination of its advocacy programs and legal services.
Co-Executive Director
Ashley Tucker serves as AFI’s Co-Executive Director, leading planning and implementation of its programs, operations, and legal services for at-risk artists.
Director of Legal Services
Mr. Mazaheri serves as AFI’s Director of Legal Services, overseeing the coordination of its resettlement programs and legal services.
Operations Manager
Joshua is AFI’s Operations Manager. He is excited to contribute to Artistic Freedom Initiative.
Development Manager
Amita Vempati serves as AFI’s Development Manager. Amita uses her passions for social justice and art to connect with communities all over the world.
Senior Officer, Human Rights Research & Policy
Johanna serves as Senior Officer, Human Rights Research & Policy, working as a lead editor and researcher for the organization’s regional reports on artistic freedom.
Senior Officer, Strategic Initiatives & Relocation
Gracie Golden serves as AFI’s Senior Officer of Strategic Initiatives & Relocation, providing resettlement support across programs.
Officer, Relocation and Resettlement
Zanya Andrade Fitz serves as AFI’s Operations & Programs Officer, implementing mechanisms of strategy, research, and support for AFI's programs and operations.
Paralegal, Immigration & Human Rights
Marty Garbarini serves as AFI’s Immigration & Human Rights Paralegal, providing support to the legal team in our pursuit to safeguard the right to artistic freedom for international artists at risk.
Junior Officer, Human Rights Research & Policy
Skylar Davidson serves as AFI’s Junior Officer, Human Rights Research & Policy, supporting AFI’s advocacy efforts as a researcher for AFI’s thematic reports on artistic freedom.
Digital Marketing Coordinator
Camille Witt (she/her) serves as the Digital Marketing Coordinator for AFI. She has spent much of her career at the intersection of arts and advocacy in nonprofit organizations and educational spaces.
AFI EUROPE STAFF
Europe Staff
Senior Researcher and Policy Analyst
Irene serves as a Senior Researcher and Policy Analyst. Her research focuses on political interferences in the management of cultural institutions.
Coordinator, Development, Partnerships & Events
Jonathan possesses extensive experience in the domains of music, events, and partnerships.
Coordinator, Human Rights Advocacy
Jennifer Laourou serves as the Human Rights Advocacy Coordinator for AFI’s office in Geneva.
Case Manager
Yama Rahimi serves as AAPP Europe’s first resettlement coordinator, assisting artists with German visa applications and providing holistic resettlement support.
Attorney
Berlin-based attorney Michael Mai coordinates advocacy before the German government on securing artists' entry into Germany.
Board of Directors
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Partner, Jenner & Block | United States Ambassador and Permanent Representative, United Nations Human Rights Council
Ambassador (ret.) Keith M. Harper is a partner at Jenner & Block, where he chairs the firm's Native American Law Practice.
Founder and President, Gratias Partners
Daniela Kaisth is Founder and President of Gratias Partners (GP), a philanthropy advisory firm that helps donors to give more effectively and non-profits to develop new initiatives through collaboration and high-impact philanthropy.
Executive Director, SDK Foundation for Human Dignity | Founding Member & Professor Emeritus, CUNY School of Law
Dr. Dinesh Khosla is the Founder and Executive Director of the SDK Foundation for Human Dignity, and Founding Member & Professor Emeritus at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law.
White House, National Security Council Director for Global Development (former); U.S. Department of State
Divya D. Khosla has nearly fifteen years of experience in U.S. foreign policy and national security. She has served as the Director for Global Development at the White House National Security Council since March 2021
New York Film Academy Vice President, Strategic Initiatives & Executive Director, 10 ARTS Foundation
Jim Miller was a fashion industry entrepreneur before beginning his career in higher education at the Institute of International Education (IIE), where he served in various leadership capacities.
Co-Executive Director, Artistic Freedom Initiative | Founding Partner, Sethi & Mazaheri LLC
Sanjay Sethi serves as AFI’s Co-Executive Director, overseeing coordination of its advocacy programs and legal services.
Co-Executive Director, Artistic Freedom Initiative
Ashley Tucker serves as AFI’s Co-Executive Director, leading the planning and implementation of its programs, operations, and legal services for at-risk artists.
Advisory Board
ADVISORY BOARD
Senior Associate at Sethi & Mazaheri LLC | Director, International Short Film Competition at Forum on Life, Culture & Society
Shervin Abachi is an Associate at Sethi & Mazaheri Law Firm where he works with clients on a variety of immigration and criminal matters.
Independent Non-Profit Consultant
David Dean has over 30 years of experience as an arts administrator, strategic planner, and non-profit fundraiser.
Director of Institutional Giving, Bronx Museum of the Arts
Elizabeth Grady is a curator, cultural advisor, and consultant, cross-pollinating socially engaged art (SEA) and management consulting to create emotionally intelligent organizations and effective arts for change programs.
Composer, Musician, Songwriter
Siddhartha Khosla is a film and television composer, and singer/songwriter/producer of the critically acclaimed band, Goldspot.
Professor Of Law, Director Of Center For Social Justice, Seton Hall Law
Lori A. Nessel's teaching and scholarship focus largely in the areas of immigration and refugee law and policy, international human rights, rule of law, and access to justice.
Film Producer, Festival Programmer
Sara Nodjoumi is a film producer and festival programmer. She co-produced and co-directed I Call Myself Persian: Iranians In America, which aired on PBS and premiered at the MoMA Documentary Fortnight.
Executive Director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
Sarah Leah Whitson is the Executive Director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN).