John Stauffer leads the day-to-day work at Civil Rights Defenders together with the Executive Office and the Management Team.

John is a human rights lawyer with a Master of Laws from Stockholm University. He has previously worked for the Ombudsman Against Ethnic Discrimination and the Equality Ombudsman where he was responsible for investigating cases of discrimination. John also spent time in Bosnia and Herzegovina after the conflict working with human rights. During his four years working with the OSCE mission, John initially focused on creating conditions for the return of displaced persons. Later on, as the Director of the Human Rights Department, he was responsible for the organisation’s work on issues such as war crimes, rule of law, minority rights, economic, and social rights. He joined Civil Rights Defenders in March 2013.

Karin Ancker holds a bachelor of science degree in business, economics and marketing from Mälardalen University and joined Civil Rights Defenders in September 2019. Karin has extensive experience in both the private and the public sectors. For the last ten years, she has worked in roles such as Head of Strategy, CFO, HR Manager, Head of Business Support and Senior Project Manager. The overall theme in these roles has been to drive and implement change as well as build a strong team.

Gabrielle holds a MA in Political Science and Economics from the University of California, Berkeley and Lund University. Prior to joining Civil Rights Defenders, her last assignments were at CONCORD Sweden and at the World Bank, where she focused on development and human rights issues in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. She has also studied journalism at JMK in Stockholm. She worked extensively as a journalist and together with civil society organisations in South, Southeast and East Asia.

Mesfin holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from Addis Ababa University and an MA in Journalism from Södertörn University. Mesfin was the Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of a popular newspaper in Ethiopia. Later, the government accused and sentenced him in a politically motivated trial for “supporting terrorism”. Continuing his journalism and human rights activism in exile, he joined Civil Rights Defenders in 2012. Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders in Sweden awarded him prizes for his contribution to freedom of speech.

Erik holds a Master’s degree in Sociology specialising in democratisation processes. He has worked with democracy promotion in Latin America as well as the Balkans and Eastern Europe. From 2010-2013 he worked as a journalist in Brazil, and before joining Civil Rights Defenders in 2014 he was a researcher at Swedwatch.