Advisory Committee

Dan Baer is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He served in Governor John Hickenlooper’s cabinet as executive director of the Colorado Department of Higher Education from 2018-2019. He was U.S. Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) from 2013 to 2017. Previously, he was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor from 2009-2013. Before his government service, Baer was an assistant professor at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business, a Faculty Fellow at Harvard’s Safra Center for Ethics, and a project leader at The Boston Consulting Group. He holds a doctorate in International Relations from Oxford and a degree in Social Studies and African American Studies from Harvard. He lives in Denver and is married to Brian Walsh, an economist at The World Bank.

Dominic Bocci is the director of grants in the David Rockefeller Studies program at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he is also a term member. Before joining CFR, Dominic led various human rights efforts in the Middle East and worked at the Bureau for Development Policy at UNDP, where he focused on civil society engagement and international health policy. Additionally, he was a Fulbright Fellow to the United Arab Emirates and presidential associate at the American University in Cairo. He holds a BA (with honors) from UC Berkeley, an MA from Columbia University, and is currently completing his doctorate at Yale University, where he is the inaugural student in the combined PhD program in anthropology and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies.

Elisa Massimino is Visiting Professor and Executive Director of the Human Rights Institute at Georgetown Law, where she recently served as the Robert F. Drinan, S.J., Chair in Human Rights, and is a non-resident senior fellow with the Center for American Progress. Before joining the Georgetown Law faculty, Massimino was a senior fellow with the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a practitioner-in-residence at Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. Previously, Massimino spent 27 years — the last decade as president and CEO — at Human Rights First, one of the nation’s leading human rights advocacy organizations.

Massimino has a distinguished record of human rights advocacy in Washington. She has testified before Congress dozens of times; writes frequently for mainstream publications and specialized journals; appears in major media outlets; and speaks to audiences around the country. During her leadership at Human Rights First, The Hill consistently named her one of the most effective public advocates in the country. Washingtonian Magazine has repeatedly recognized her on their list of the most influential people shaping U.S. foreign policy.

Massimino is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the U.S. Supreme Court Bar. She holds a law degree from the University of Michigan, a Master’s in philosophy from Johns Hopkins University, and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Trinity University, where she was recently recognized with the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Gayatri Patel is the Vice President of External Relations at the Women’s Refugee Commission. With nearly 20 years of experience in women’s rights and gender equality, Gayatri oversees the organization’s policy advocacy and communications. Gayatri previously served as the Director of Gender Advocacy at CARE USA, where she led US government advocacy on feminist foreign policy, women’s economic empowerment, gender-based violence, and gender in humanitarian emergencies. Gayatri also spent nearly 10 years advising the US State Department on a variety of human rights and humanitarian issues and served as the Director of Legal Programming at the Africa Middle East Refugee Assistance (AMERA) organization, which provides pro bono legal services to refugees and people seeking asylum in Cairo, Egypt. Gayatri holds a law degree from American University’s Washington College of Law with a focus on international human rights and humanitarian law, a masters degree from American University’s School for International Service, and a bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College.

Julie Dorf has been a leader in the global LGBTQI+ rights movement for nearly 30 years. Julie currently serves as Co-Chair of the Council for Global Equality, a coalition of 38 organizations working together for an inclusive U.S. foreign policy, which she co-founded in 2008. Julie also founded and directed OutRight Action International (formerly the International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission) from 1990 to 2000, creating an organization that protects and advances the human rights of all people and communities subjected to discrimination or abuse on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status. She has bridged her activist career with philanthropy, serving as the Director of Philanthropic Services for Horizons Foundation, a San Francisco Bay Area foundation for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community; and as an independent consultant for WPATH, Open Society Institute, Global Fund for Women, Arcus Foundation, Astraea Foundation, and Fenton Communications/J-Street Project. Julie is currently the lead advisor to the Equality Without Borders individual donor initiative. She also serves on the board or advisory boards of PowerPAC, Human Rights Watch’s LGBT Rights Program, and Horizons Foundation, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She holds a BA from Wesleyan University in Russian and Soviet Studies. Julie has written, spoken, and advocated extensively on social justice issues ranging from reparations for gay victims of the Nazis, Jewish-Palestinian relations, and marriage equality. She lives in Berkeley, California, but spends a lot of time in Washington, D.C.

Mark Bromley is Co-Chair of the Council for Global Equality. He helped launch the Council in 2008 to encourage a clearer and stronger American voice on international LGBTQI+ human rights concerns. In 2016, he provided the first-ever testimony to the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the state of LGBTQI+ rights around the world. Today, Mark and his colleagues provide regular briefings on trends impacting LGBTQI+ individuals globally. He also monitors the UN human rights system and has conducted research on sexual violence as a war crime. Mark previously worked for Global Rights, where he coordinated donor relations, supported field offices, and launched an organization-wide LGBTQI+ Initiative. From 2001-2002, Mark staffed Senator Feingold’s work on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including the Senator’s Chairmanship of the Africa Subcommittee. Mark holds a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law and a BSFS from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He has published on human rights and international law issues and has served as an adjunct professor for the human rights clinic at Virginia Law School. He lives in Washington with his husband and their children.

Masen Davis, Executive Director of Funders Concerned About AIDS, has spent 25 years advancing human rights and healthcare for LGBTQI+ and HIV-impacted communities. Previously, Masen served as interim executive director of Transgender Europe; CEO of Freedom for All Americans; Executive Director of the Transgender Law Center; and Interim Co-Director of Global Action for Trans Equality, where he helped launch the International Trans Fund. His work in philanthropy includes serving as Senior Director of Special Projects at the Gill Foundation; Community Investment Officer and Director of Development at United Way of Greater Los Angeles; and consultant to various foundations. Masen received his Master of Social Welfare with a concentration in nonprofit management from UCLA. A gay trans man, Masen has received many awards for his advocacy over the years and currently serves as an Advisory Board Member of the Council for Global Equality and ILGA-Europe. He lives in Berlin with his husband and their scruffy terrier.

Sharita Gruberg is the Vice President for Economic Justice at the National Partnership for Women & Families, where she leads the economic justice team in providing expertise and thought leadership in research, advocacy, and policy work around many of the issue areas the organization has led on in its 50-year history. Before coming to the National Partnership, Sharita served as vice president for the LGBTQI+ Research and Communications Project at the Center for American Progress, where she worked to expand legal and lived equality for LGBTQI+ people, particularly those living at the intersection of multiple identities. Prior to joining CAP, Sharita worked for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees helping to bring people fleeing persecution, including LGBTQI+ refugees, to safety. Sharita earned her JD from Georgetown University Law Center, and she also received the Refugees and Humanitarian Emergencies Certificate from the Institute for the Study of International Migration. She holds a BA in political science and women’s studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Sharita serves on the board of the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights and the Equality Federation and is also an advisor to the Council for Global Equality. Sharita was recognized by the National LGBT Bar Association as one of the 40 Best LGBTQ+ Attorneys Under the Age of 40 in 2019. Her research and commentary has been featured on NPR as well as in the New York Times, USA Today, NBC News, Reuters, and other outlets.  

Based in Washington, D.C., Valerie Ploumpis has been National Policy Director of Equality California since early 2017. She is a political expert with more than two decades of experience in issue advocacy campaigns, grassroots education and mobilization, coalition building, lobbying, and media outreach. She served on the board of directors of OutRight International Action, a global LGBTQI+ civil rights organization (now ex-officio), and on the board of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund’s Campaign Board, a national PAC which endorses and supports LGBTQI+ political candidates and elected officials, since 2005. Prior to joining Equality California, she was a principal at Burnside & Associates, where she managed political and mobilization campaigns. Prior to that, Valerie served as a legislative and policy advocate for several international trade organizations in Washington, D.C. She holds a BA in international relations from Mills College and an MA in international relations from Johns Hopkins University.

Zaid A. Zaid is the Head of U.S. Public Policy at Cloudflare and was previously the Head of North America on Strategic Response Policy at Meta. He served on the Biden/Harris Transition on the Agency Review Teams for the U.S. Department of State, USAID, Peace Corps, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation. He has nearly 20 years experience in tech, policy, law, foreign affairs, national security, and international development. Zaid served in the Obama Administration as Special Assistant to the President and Associate White House Counsel, where he advised the President and his Administration on crisis response, congressional investigations, risk management, strategy, communications, and federal inter-agency coordination. Before the White House, he was the Senior Attorney-Advisor to the General Counsel at USAID. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, he was a senior associate in the investigations and criminal litigation group at Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr (WilmerHale) in Washington, D.C. Zaid joined WilmerHale after federal clerkships on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First and Second Circuits and the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Zaid graduated from Columbia Law School as an Editorial Board member of the Columbia Law Review and a Richard Paul Richman Fellow. Prior to law school, he was a political officer in the Foreign Service. He served at the United Nations, in Baghdad, Cairo, and Tunis. Zaid received his MALD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a BSFS from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where he was a Pickering Fellow. Zaid is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a Truman National Security Project fellow, an ICAP Fellow, and a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress. He serves on the Board of Directors of iMMAP, the Board of Advisors of the School of Foreign Service, and the Board of Governors at Georgetown University. Zaid lives in Washington, D.C. with his husband Giles Herman and their three sons.