Additional New Staff, Including Program Director and Gulf Researcher, will help Ensure the Excellence of DAWN's Research
Washington, D.C., July August 3, 2021)- Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) is pleased to announce the expansion of DAWN's team with the hiring of two individuals to fill key positions in the organization.
As DAWN's new Program Director, John Hursh will oversee our team of researchers, expand and enhance DAWN's programmatic work, and help identify new areas of potential impact.
Previously, Mr. Hursh worked as Director of Research at the Stockton Center for International Law and Editor-in-Chief of International Law Studies at the U.S. Naval War College, and before that as a policy analyst focusing on Sudan at the Enough Project, an NGO working to end genocide and crimes against humanity.
He is a regular contributor to Just Security and his writing has appeared in African Arguments, World Politics Review, and Foreign Policy.
"As a former editor-in-chief of a top-notch journal and an expert on international law and policy analysis, John will bring valuable insights that will help ensure the excellence of our research and policy briefs in support of DAWN's mission."
Sevag Kechichian also joins the DAWN team as Gulf Researcher. He brings more than 20 years of experience in designing and executing research projects, previously working as Amnesty International's lead Researcher on Saudi Arabia, and as a lead researcher at XPRIZE, helping to design competitions to solve global challenges.
He has carried out multiple fact-finding missions in the Middle East and engaged in advocacy work at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva and European Union institutions in Brussels.
"The breadth of Sevag's experience as a seasoned human rights researcher and Gulf states analyst will expand and deepen DAWN's investigations on the role of government officials complicit in some of the worst abuses in the region," Ms. Whitson said.
Sevag Kechichian is a Gulf Researcher at DAWN.
"These two new hires will help DAWN fulfill one of our core missions of becoming a resource of information for organizations, journalists, academics, and policy-makers," Ms. Whitson said. "They will also help ensure that our research continues to provide a strong foundation for DAWN's advocacy work, which ultimately seeks to end U.S. support for some of the most abusive governments in the Middle East."
"The breadth of Sevag's experience as a seasoned human rights researcher and Gulf states analyst will expand and deepen DAWN's investigations on the role of government officials complicit in some of the worst abuses in the region."
- Sarah Leah Whitson
DAWN, founded in 2018 by Jamal Khashoggi and board members Nihad Awad, Dr. Esam Omeish, and Asim Ghafoor, was relaunched in September 2020 under the leadership of its new Executive Director, Sarah Leah Whitson. DAWN is a nonprofit organization that promotes democracy, the rule of law, and human rights for all of the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa and advocates for U.S. policies that align with these goals.
