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FALL 2025: Saji Prelis, David Mandel-Anthony, Hanna Song

SPRING 2025: Nancy Okail

SPRING 2025

Nancy Okail, Center for International Policy

March, exact dates TBA

Nancy Okail is President and CEO of the Center for International Policy. Dr. Okail is a leading scholar, policy analyst, and advocate with more than 20 years of experience working on issues of human rights, democracy, and security in the Middle East and North Africa region.

In 2020, Okail was appointed as a visiting scholar at the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) at Stanford University, focusing on accountability and the intersection of human rights and technology. Prior to joining Stanford, she served as Executive Director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP), which under her leadership became an internationally renowned policy research organization.

Before coming to the United States, Okail worked on, managed, and evaluated foreign aid programs for several international organizations, including the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme. In her subsequent role as Director of Freedom House’s Egypt program, Okail was one of the 43 nongovernmental organization workers convicted and sentenced to prison in a widely publicized 2012 case for allegedly using foreign funds to foment unrest in Egypt. She was then exonerated by a court ruling in December of 2018.

Okail holds a Ph.D. from the University of Sussex in the UK. Her policy analysis and political commentary have been featured in top outlets including the Washington Post, New York Times, Foreign Affairs, and Lawfare. She has been interviewed or quoted by The Guardian, BBC World News, MSNBC, and Al Jazeera, and she regularly speaks on current affairs panels at world fora and academic institutions.

FALL 2025

Saji Prelis, Search for Common Ground

September 8-12, 2025

Saji Prelis has over 25 years of experience working with youth movements, governments, amd partners to build intergenerational trust and collaboration in over 35 countries. As the Co-Chair of the Global Coalition on Youth, Peace, and Security, he co-led successful advocacy for the UN Security Council Resolutions , , and . He also leads the Global Community of Practice on YPS National Action Plans.

Saji is the Director of Children & Youth Programs at , an international conflict transformation organization. Before that, he was the founding director of the Peacebuilding & Development Institute at American University in Washington, DC. Over 11 years at the university resulted in him co-developing over 150 training curricula exploring the nexus of peacebuilding with development from a human-centered perspective.

Saji received the distinguished for Outstanding Achievements in Peace Support. He obtained his Master’s degree in International Peace & Conflict Resolution from American University. 

Public Events

• Saji facilitated "Tomorrow's Peace Today: A Youth Workshop."
• Saji presented a public talk, "The Unexpected Gift of Conflict: How Intergenerational Trust Powers Transformative Change," which can be viewed below.

 

David Mandel-Anthony, Office of Global Criminal Justice, U.S. Department of State

October 13-17, 2025

David Mandel-Anthony serves as the Deputy to the Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice in the (GCJ) at the U.S. Department of State.  He provides expert policy advice to the Ambassador-at-Large and senior Department leadership. Previously, he served as Acting Director and Senior Advisor in GCJ, where he led and oversaw portfolios to advance U.S. foreign policy on transitional justice, international and hybrid courts, atrocity prevention, and international humanitarian and human rights law. In GCJ, he has also directed portfolios related to Africa, Central America, Near Eastern Affairs, and Ukraine. He has more than 15 years of experience working on foreign policy, human rights, and transitional justice at  leading non-governmental organizations, the U.S. Congress, and international courts and institutions. He also taught transitional justice as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center. He has published on emerging trends related to accountability for atrocity crimes and is a frequent public speaker.  He holds a JD from Fordham University and a BA from the Honors Program at University of Texas at Austin.

Public Events

• David presented a public talk, which can be viewed below.

 

Hanna Song, Database Center for North Korean Human Rights

November 10-14, 2025

Hanna Song is a researcher, activist and documenter of human rights violations in North Korea. Hanna is currently the Executive Director of the , based in Seoul, South Korea. NKDB built and maintains the largest repository in the world of human rights violations against North Koreans after interviewing over 20,000 escapees. This database is used to raise global awareness, conduct advocacy, and recommend policy with United Nations bodies, governments, INGOs, and international press. NKDB also conducts research and publishes reports, and provides counseling and social resettlement assistance to North Korean escapees. 

Hanna was appointed Executive Director of the Database Center for North Korean Human Rights in 2024 after over 9 years as a researcher, where she contributed to the repository, published reports on human rights conditions in the military, humanitarian assistance sent to North Korea, and North Korea’s obligations under United Nations mechanisms. Hanna also served as Director of International Cooperation within NKDB, briefing diplomats, policy makers and the news media on human rights in North Korea and managing international partnerships.

Hanna holds a Master’s degree in International Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford and a Bachelor’s from University College Utrecht in the Netherlands. 

Public Events

• Hanna presented a public talk which can be viewed below.