January 7th, 2008 - OurPledge.org (AADG)  Permalink   View & Add Comments

Human Rights Advocate Jerry Fowler Named Save Darfur Executive Director

[A Release from the Save Darfur Coalition. Great news!]

‘Jerry is known as a thoughtful intellect, a passionate advocate and a forward-thinking manager’

WASHINGTON, January 7, 2008—Following a six-month executive search, the Save Darfur Coalition board of directors today announced that human rights advocate Jerry Fowler has been selected to serve as the coalition’s new executive director. Save Darfur board members said Fowler has the skills, credentials and vision to lead Darfur advocacy efforts into this new phase. Fowler, who is scheduled to begin as executive director on February 4th, joins the coalition following service at the Washington-based U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum as director of the Committee on Conscience.

On Fowler’s recommendation, the museum issued a Darfur “Genocide Warning” in January 2004 following streaming reports of mass violence and displacement. He traveled to the Chad-Darfur border region in May of 2004 to document the destruction and suffering and later that year co-convened the seminal meeting of faith-based and human rights activists – a meeting which marked the Save Darfur Coalition’s founding. He participated, along with other leading Darfur activists, in an April 2006 White House meeting with President Bush.

Fowler replaces Bill Wasserman, president of M+R Strategic Services, who has served as the coalition’s interim executive director since June.

“As the Darfur crisis approaches its fifth year, as peacekeeping efforts continue to lag, and as the Sudanese government continues its recalcitrance and obstruction, Darfur advocacy must enter into a new phase of action and activism,” the board said in a joint statement. “To spur effective action from the international community, the Save Darfur Coalition needs an executive director with a deep-rooted understanding of this conflict and the region, a familiarity with aggressive advocacy and activism, and an unswerving passion for human rights. We have found that person in Jerry Fowler, who is known as a thoughtful intellect, a passionate advocate and a forward-thinking manager.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind that hundreds of thousands of civilians are still alive in Darfur today because of the tireless advocacy of concerned citizens here and abroad—part of an unprecedented constituency of conscience,” Fowler said. “But they remain at grave risk. Now more than ever, we need to redouble our efforts, expand our coalition and push for effective action to end the crisis in Darfur and promote a just peace in Sudan.”

Fowler’s full biography and headshot can be viewed here: http://www.savedarfur.org/fowler.

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