Perseus Strategies

Legal Services. International Human Rights. Government Affairs.

Team

Jared Genser (Español)

Jared Genser has been an international human rights lawyer for more than two decades. He is Managing Director of Perseus Strategies, a public interest law firm, Special Advisor on the Responsibility to Protect to the Organization of American States, Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School, and outside General Counsel to the Neurorights Foundation. Referred to by the New York Times as “The Extractor” for his work freeing political prisoners worldwide, he has served as pro bono counsel to five Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, including the last three Laureates who won their Prize while imprisoned — Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma, 2006-2010), Liu Xiaobo (China, 2010-2017), and Ales Bialiatski (Belarus, 2023-Present) — as well as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Elie Wiesel.

Genser was previously a partner in the government affairs practice of DLA Piper LLP and a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. He has also been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and the University of Michigan Law School, across which he taught semester-long seminars about the UN Security Council seven times.

In addition, he was an Associate of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University from 2014-2016, a Visiting Fellow with the National Endowment for Democracy from 2006-2007, and earlier in his career was named by the National Law Journal as one of “40 Under 40: Washington’s Rising Stars.” Genser’s other past clients have included former Czech Republic President Václav Havel, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed. Over his career, he has also advised multilateral institutions, governments, companies, foundations, and civil society organizations on ensuring their work was consistent with international human rights, labor rights, and environmental rights standards. Coming from his experience freeing his first client as a law student, in 2001 he founded Freedom Now, a non-governmental organization that works to free prisoners of conscience worldwide.

Genser holds a B.S. from Cornell University, an M.P.P. from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, where he was an Alumni Public Service Fellow, and a J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School.

He is author of The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: Commentary and Guide to Practice (Cambridge University Press, 2019). In addition, he is co-editor of The UN Security Council in the Age of Human Rights (Cambridge University Press, 2016) and The Responsibility to Protect: The Promise of Stopping Mass Atrocities in Our Times (Oxford University Press, 2011). His forthcoming book is a co-edited volume with former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein entitled The Oxford Handbook on the UN Human Rights System (Oxford University Press, 2024).

Genser was previously selected as one of three winners of the Tällberg Eliasson Global Leadership Prize from among 2,165 nominees from 135 countries. He has also received the American Bar Association’s International Human Rights Award, Liberty in North Korea’s Freedom Fighter Award, and the Charles Bronfman Prize. Finally, he is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. And he was selected as a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum (Class of 2008). Married with two children, Genser is an avid ice hockey player, a sport he took up in college.

Profiles – Print

Profiles – Television and Radio

Admissions and Memberships

Admissions

  • Supreme Court of Maryland
  • District of Columbia Court of Appeals
  • Supreme Court of England and Wales

Memberships

  • Council on Foreign Relations, Member (Elected 2013)
  • World Economic Forum, Young Global Leader (2008-2013)
  • World Economic Forum, Member of Global Agenda Council for Human Rights (2010-2011)
  • British American Project Fellow (Elected 2008)
  • French-American Foundation Young Leaders Program (Elected 2011)
  • Asia Society’s Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit Delegate (Elected 2009)
  • U.S.-Japan Young Leadership Fellow (Elected 2009)

Brian TronicBrian Tronic Photo

Brian Tronic is Counsel at Perseus Strategies. He is a graduate of Penn Law School and holds a B.A. from the University of Virginia, where he​ double-majored in Math and Philosophy. After law school, he clerked for two years in the Vermont Superior Court, and then moved to South India to work at a human rights organization through the William J. Clinton Fellowship for Service in India. He then served as the Crowley Fellow in International Human Rights at Fordham Law School, an Assistant Professor at Jindal Global Law School (India), and the Supervising Attorney and Teaching Fellow at the International Women’s Human Rights Clinic at the Georgetown Law Center. He is a member of the Massachusetts bar and the District of Columbia bar.

Hannah Pierce-CartyHannah Pierce-Carty

Hannah Pierce-Carty is the Archbishop Desmond Tutu International Policy Fellow. As such, she manages the firm’s advocacy efforts within the UN Human Rights Council to create international standards for the social reintegration of convicted persons, while also managing an ongoing political prisoner case. In her personal capacity, Hannah is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper in Denver, Colorado. She graduated with high distinction from the University of Michigan, holding B.A.s in Political Science and International Security, Cooperation, and Norms. Hannah focuses on racial and gender inequity in public policy, especially regarding poverty, incarceration, and health. She previously worked as a Case Manager for Health First Colorado (Medicaid), ensuring the health and dignity of low-income individuals with physical or mental disabilities. She has completed internships with her U.S. Congresswoman and the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender. Inspiring her passion for criminal justice reform, Hannah was also a mentor for incarcerated at-risk youth in Detroit, MI, leading rehabilitative efforts for their successful social reintegration after release. Hannah lives in Colorado, where she enjoys backpacking, rock climbing, and reading.

Stephen DamianosStephen Damianos

Stephen Damianos is the Director of Technology and Human Rights at Perseus Strategies. In this capacity, he manages the firm’s neurorights portfolio while supporting ongoing political prisoner cases. Stephen holds a PhD (DPhil) in International Development from the University of Oxford. Stephen’s doctoral research investigated digitally mediated human rights abuses perpetrated against asylum seekers in Greece, with a focus on border technologies, corporate complicity, and novel forms of state violence. Prior to commencing his doctoral work, Stephen completed an MPhil in Development Studies at the University of Cambridge and a B.A in Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Stephen has taught courses on human rights and forced migration at the University of Oxford, worked in detention centers to provide legal aid to incarcerated migrants, contributed to mass atrocity prevention efforts in the United Kingdom, and supported displaced researchers around the world through mentorship and skills training at the Refugee-Led Research Hub. Stephen is a Truman Scholar and a Rhodes Scholar.

Zara SalmanZara Salman

Zara Salman is the International Human Rights Fellow. She graduated with honors from the University of Chicago with Bachelors of Arts in Human Rights and Law, Letters & Society. Zara’s cumulative thesis utilized original ethnographic research to discern the human rights implications of the climate crisis for vulnerable populations in Pakistan. She was awarded nationally competitive Stamps Scholars funding to conduct this research over two years. In her final year of university, she provided legal services to clients spearheading the clean energy transition with the Abrams Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Chicago law school. She has previously completed internships with a variety of human rights and civil society organizations, including the Global Network for Human Rights and the Environment, United African Organization, Corporate Accountability Lab, and more.

Maureen MwadimeMaureen Mwadime

Maureen Mwadime is a legal intern at Perseus Strategies and an accomplished human rights advocate. She recently graduated with a Master of Laws (LL.M.) with a concentration in Health Policy and Law from Northeastern University School of Law. Maureen has led significant initiatives in digital rights, health rights, water and sanitation, and the protection of civil and political rights in Kenya. She is deeply committed to defending the rights of vulnerable and marginalized populations, including refugees and victims of human trafficking. Her efforts extend to human rights litigation, providing legal advice, advocating for policy changes, and engaging communities to raise awareness about their rights. Recognized for her contributions to advocating for responsible innovations and technology, in 2022, Maureen was named Public Sector Lawyer of the Year (Legal Tech Edition) by the Law Society of Kenya. She has also served as a Digital Responsibility Advisor for the Tech for Democracy Advisory Group, coordinated by the Global Focus Organization and the Danish government. Maureen participated in the drafting of the first national action plan for business and human rights in Africa (Kenya) as well as Kenya’s Data Protection Act and its regulations.

Ana ChavesAna Chaves

Ana Chaves is a legal intern at Perseus Strategies. Ana is a rising 2L at the University of Chicago Law School and holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard College. Following her undergraduate education, she worked at an international development organization in Zambia and South Africa, contributing to work in Zambia and Malawi. After that experience, Ana spent three years in Melbourne, Australia working as an economist, and later a senior economist, in the Victorian State Government. Ana is passionate about international law and human rights law, intending to enter the field following her graduation from law school.

Nidhi KrishnanNidhi Krishnan

Nidhi Krishnan is an intern at Perseus Strategies. She was born and raised in Bloomington, Indiana, and she graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a major in American Culture Studies and a minor in math. At WashU, she was an Army ROTC cadet for three years, and she is now a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves. She seeks to use her knowledge of and proximity to the United States military to advocate on behalf of human rights, reducing civilian killings during war, and post-war reconstruction. In college, Nidhi studied Arabic for three years and served as a peer counselor for issues of sexual violence. She studied abroad twice during college in Fes, Morocco and Amman, Jordan. In the domestic realm, she has previously interned at WEPOWER STL and the ACLU of Missouri, where she contributed to the organizations’ work on racial justice. In the business realm, she interned at Citi as a public finance analyst during one summer. On the international realm, she previously interned at the United States Agency for International Development. Nidhi is a Truman Scholar who is committed to serving others and seeking equity and justice in the world. In her free time, she enjoys watching sunrises, drinking coffee, and running.

Samantha BloomsteinSamantha Bloomstein

Samantha Bloomstein is an intern at Perseus Strategies. She is a rising senior at the University of Michigan pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and International Security, Cooperation, and Norms, as well as a Donia Human Rights fellow. At Michigan she is an undergraduate research assistant for the American Culture Unit where she transcribes and analyzes Native American representation in television in media, a tour guide for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, and the former president of Sigma Delta Tau sorority. Following a semester in Madrid, Spain, Samantha continues to work towards fluency in Spanish in order to complement her passion for international human rights law. She previously worked at Morristown New Jersey Superior Court in the family division, where she researched and drafted legal memorandum as well as consulted and prepared the Judge for oral argument. Following her graduation from the University of Michigan, Samantha intends to continue working in the field of international human rights, and later attend law school.