NIAC 2024 Post-Election Symposium

James (Jim) McGovern is a member of the United States House of Representatives since 1997, representing Massachusetts's 2nd congressional district since 2013. A Democrat, he is the ranking member of the House Rules Committee, chaired the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and is the co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission

Lily Greenberg Call is a former Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff at the Department of Interior. She has nearly a decade of experience in politics, movement organizing, and domestic and international human rights work. She worked on Vice President Harris’ 2020 primary campaign and President Biden's 2020 campaign and served in the Biden administration until May 15, 2024, when she became the first Jewish political appointee to resign in protest of US policy in Gaza. Lily has appeared as a guest on MSNBC, CNN, NBC, and given commentary and written articles for The Washington Post, Politico, The Guardian, and Truthout.

Whitson is the Executive Director of DAWN, which works to reform US policy in the Middle East. She previously served as the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch's Middle East and North Africa Division. Whitson is widely published on human rights and US foreign policy. Her forthcoming book, with Michael Omer-Man, presents a new blueprint for ending Israeli occupation and apartheid to create rights-respecting governance for Palestinians and Israelis alike.

Ryan Grim is co-founder of Drop Site News. He was previously D.C. Bureau Chief for The Intercept and the Washington bureau chief for HuffPost, where he led a team that was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, winning once. He has been a staff reporter for Politico and the Washington City Paper and is a co-host of the show Counter Points. He is the author of the books “We’ve Got People” (2019) and “This Is Your Country on Drugs” (2009). His third book, published in December 2023, is “The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution.”

State Representative Gene Wu proudly serves the people of District 137 in the Texas House. Prior to being elected in 2012, he served as a prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, where he sought justice for thousands of crime victims. Gene is currently an attorney in private practice. A dedicated advocate for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, Rep. Wu is committed to raising awareness and fostering dialogue about the pressing issues facing Asian Americans today.

Lara Friedman is the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP). She is a leading authority on the Middle East, with particular expertise on U.S. foreign policy in the region, on Israel/Palestine, and on the way Middle East and Israel/Palestine-related issues play out in Congress and in U.S. domestic politics, policies, and legislation. Lara is a former officer in the U.S. Foreign Service, with diplomatic postings in Jerusalem, Washington, Tunis and Beirut. She also served previously as the Director of Policy and Government Relations at Americans for Peace Now.

Steven Simon is a Distinguished Fellow at Dartmouth College and research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He served at the NSC and State Department. Outside of government, he was deputy director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and senior fellow in Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. His most recent book is "Grand Delusion: The Rise and Fall of American Ambition in the Middle East" (Penguin Random House 2023)

Ryan Costello joined NIAC in April 2013 as a Policy Fellow and currently serves as Policy Director. In this role, Ryan directs NIAC’s policy team in its work to influence policymakers, monitor legislation, conduct research and writing, and coordinate advocacy efforts.

Mitra Jalali is a board member for NIAC Action and in her day job serves as the President of the Saint Paul City Council in Minnesota.

Tariq Habash is a founder and director of A New Policy, a new lobbying organization advocating for just U.S. policy toward Palestine and Israel. Prior to starting A New Policy, he served as a political appointee and policy advisor in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development. Tariq led the policy office’s student loan portfolio, regulatory policy planning, and budget development across higher education issues. He was the second government official, and the first political appointee to publicly resign from the Biden Administration due to its policy on Gaza and unrestricted support for Israel’s aggression against Palestinians.

Lauren Maunus (she/her) is Political Director of IfNotNow, a movement of Jews fighting to end US support for Israeli apartheid and ensure a just and thriving future for all. Prior to working with INN, Lauren served as Sunrise Movement's federal Advocacy Director from 2018-2022, where she translated the electoral and organizing power of young people into political and policy progress toward a Green New Deal. Notably, she played a key role in driving the movement’s demands into what became the Inflation Reduction Act and the American Climate Corps.

Dr. Jon Hoffman is a Research Fellow at the Cato Institute and an Adjunct Professor at George Mason University. His research focuses on US foreign policy in the Middle East, Middle East geopolitics, and political Islam.

Jamal Abdi joined the National Iranian American Council as Policy Director in November 2009, directing NIAC’s efforts to monitor policies and legislation and to educate and advocate on behalf of the Iranian-American community. He has served as President of NIAC since August 2018, and also serves as the Executive Director of NIAC Action, the group’s sister organization.

Golnaz Fakhimi serves as the Legal Director of Muslim Advocates and has worked with and for historically and structurally marginalized people across a wide spectrum of contexts and strategies. Her experience and expertise encompass deportation defense, criminal defense, defense of alleged "war on terror" suspects, habeas corpus actions, civil rights actions, technical assistance to movement leaders and partners, and collaborative advocacy with them.

Abed Ayoub currently serves as the National Executive Director of the American-Arab Anti- Discrimination Committee (ADC), the country's largest Arab American civil rights organization, based in Washington, D.C. Throughout his career Ayoub has worked to address issues impacting Arabs and Muslims in the United States, including matters related to discrimination, immigration, hate crimes, surveillance and profiling.

Jason S. Rathod is a founding partner of Migliaccio & Rathod LLP and an accomplished plaintiff-side class action lawyer, including in the areas of consumer protection, data privacy, and civil rights. Mr. Rathod has been appointed to leadership teams in some of the most high-profile class action cases in the country.

Negar Mortazavi, Senior Fellow at CIP, Host of Iran Podcast, Moderator

Nader Hashemi is an Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics and the Director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Ben Freeman is Director of the Democratizing Foreign Policy program at the Quincy Institute. He investigates money in politics, defense spending, and foreign influence in America. He is the author of The Foreign Policy Auction, which was the first book to systematically analyze the foreign influence industry in the United States. Before joining the Quincy Institute, Ben founded the Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative at the Center for International Policy, served as Deputy Director of the National Security program at Third Way, and was a National Security Fellow at the Project On Government Oversight. His work has appeared in numerous media outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and Politico.

Yasmine currently serves as Legislative and Political Director for MPower Change Action Fund, the largest Muslim digital organization in the U.S. with more than 500,000 members. In 2016, she became the first Iranian-American elected to the Democratic National Committee. Her passion for justice is reflected in her 15+ years of legislative experience, during which she worked on Capitol Hill; served as Senior Policy Counsel at Demand Progress and as a Senior Policy Counsel at the Center for Victims of Torture; has directed the Human Rights & Civil Liberties Program at the Friends Committee on National Legislation, and more.

Kombiz Lavasany is a campaign strategist specializing in domestic progressive and Democratic causes. Born in Tehran, he immigrated to the United States at age eight. His extensive political experience includes work with labor unions, serving at the Democratic National Committee under Governor Howard Dean's leadership, and contributing to President Obama's election campaign. For the past twelve years, he has led organizing, issue-based, and political campaigns for the AFT.