Johanna Bankston is a Senior Officer on AFI’s Global Policy & Advocacy team, where she serves as a lead researcher and author on AFI’s regional and thematic reports and projects on artistic freedom, and manages several of the program’s advocacy initiatives in international fora. Ms. Bankston co-authored AFI’s reports on Hungary, Poland, Afghanistan, Iran, and Nicaragua, and serves as the lead researcher for AFI’s newest project, the Artistic Freedom Monitor: USA.

Prior to joining AFI, Ms. Bankston worked as a researcher on human rights policy issues for the Oxford Department of International Development, Terre Des Hommes in Hungary, and the UC Berkeley Human Rights Center’s Digital Investigations Lab. Her writing has been published in the 2022 book Digital Identity, Virtual Borders, and Social Media, and her op-eds have been featured by the Atlantic Council, the EU Observer, and Euronews. She also worked as a paralegal for several years, specializing in LGBTQ+ and gender based asylum and humanitarian relief claims.

Ms. Bankston holds a Masters Degree (MSc) in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies from the University of Oxford, and a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree from the University of California, Berkeley.