Synopsis: Representatives from Human Rights First will be presenting on Democracy Watch, a new advocacy tool that tracks, maps, and exposes trends in legislation that threaten our democratic institutions or undermine civil and human rights. Their presentation will include a summary of the most significant threats to democracy that their team has been tracking and the partnerships they are seeking through the launch of this new advocacy tool.

Hanah's bio: Dr. Hanah Stiverson is the Associate Director of Democracy Protection at Human Rights First where she focuses on rising authoritarianism and anti-democratic trends in federal and state governments. Her publications and research range from the rollback of LGBTQ+ rights, attacks on public education and DEI policies, and the threats posed by extremism in the military. Prior to joining HRF, Hanah's academic research focused on the rising fascist movements in the United States and the threats they posed to democratic processes and institutions.

Joseph's bio: Joseph Bustamante serves as the User Experience Designer in Human Rights First’s Innovation Lab. He is a human-centered design specialist with expertise in user research, interface, and interaction design. Joseph previously served as an entrepreneurial UX and Product Design consultant, supporting new initiatives and product launches at startups and software agencies. He was an external UX consultant for our Innovation Lab on Glimpse, its flagship artificial intelligence project before joining HRF full time. Joseph earned his Bachelor of Science in Informatics with a specialization in human-computer interaction from the University of California, Irvine.

Established in 1978, Human Rights First's mission is to ensure that the United States is a global leader on human rights. The organization works in the United States and abroad to promote respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Meet the Legislation Trackers

AI model flags and categorizes potentially harmful legislation, which is then reviewed by policy experts before being published to the site.