Robert Kushen

Robert Kushen serves as secretary on MDAC’s board. He is presently the Director of International Operations at the Open Society Institute, the headquarters of a network of philanthropies active in over 60 countries promoting transparency, rule of law and human rights. Since 1996 he has held a number of positions at the Open Society Institute, serving as Special Counsel and Deputy Director. From 1999 to 2002, he served as Executive Director of Doctors of the World, a non-governmental organisation committed to addressing health care problems caused by human rights abuses in the U.S. and around the world. From 1991-1996, he served in the Office of the Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State, where he worked as counsel to the bureau on counterterrorism, liaison to the International Criminal Tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and negotiated a number of international agreements in the areas of scientific and environmental cooperation.

Robert Kushen holds a J.D. from Columbia University, a B.A. from Harvard University in Russian Studies and is the author of a number of publications in the area of human rights and non-profit law. He is a member of the New York Bar Association and the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the boards of several non-governmental organisations, joining MDAC’s board in September 2004.