2024 Human Rights Awards Dinner
The Advocates for Human Rights once again celebrated the Human Rights Awards Dinner on Wednesday, June 26, 2024. Don and Arvonne Fraser inspired The Advocates for Human Rights from the very beginning. In their honor, this award is presented to an individual or organization with sustained dedication and unwavering commitment to promoting human rights.
Sarah Stoesz, former President and CEO of Planned Parenthood North Central States was honored with the Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Award for her lifetime commitment to reproductive health and human rights. Sarah is an extraordinary example of living your values. Her courage, dedication, and years of service to women's human rights have inspired us all.
Additionally, The Advocates brought back our 2020 Don and Arvonne Fraser Human Rights Award winner, Lee Gelernt who was unable to join us in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee has been on the front lines of the fight for immigrants' human rights, arguing in the courts to overturn discriminatory and illegal policies. He has litigated the cases to overturn the administration's first travel ban, stop mass deportations of refugees, and reunite families separated at the border.
Volunteers are the driving force of The Advocates for Human Rights. Each year, we honor individuals who have made an extraordinary difference in advancing our mission. This year the Volunteer Award winners included Reyna Blandon Lagos, Maureen Brown, Bill Hittler, Zehra Fatima Khan, and Whitney A. Tuthill-Preus. Below are their invaluable contributions:
Reyna Blandon Lagos brings her whole heart and passion to her volunteer work with The Advocates. In addition to her contributions to United Nations reports and advocacy to counter restrictions on asylum, Reyna is always willing to share client-centered feedback for our project evaluations and provides logistical support for clients in the St. Cloud area.
Maureen Brown started volunteering behind the scenes in 2021, helping with mailings. Now, Maureen volunteers at our front desk, and she is one of the first people clients may see when they arrive at our office. Maureen brings empathy, patience, and diligence to her volunteer work, and she is a friendly face that ensures that our clients know they are welcome.
Bill Hittler's volunteer work has directly benefitted more than 10 clients and indirectly benefitted so many more. Bill first volunteered several years ago, representing an unaccompanied child. Since then, he has expanded his volunteer work to represent more kids and adults, including those in detention, and he also mentors other volunteer attorneys. Thanks to his hard work, one of Bill's clients is also celebrating a recent grant of asylum!
Zehra Fatima Khan began her volunteer journey with The Advocates four years ago through monitoring remote court hearings with the WATCH court observation project. Since then, she has continued as an intern with WATCH and supported other projects on gender-based violence, including work on UN reports, consultations with youth, and interviews with anti-trafficking experts.
Whitney A. Tuthill-Preus has been analyzing, cataloguing, and summarizing the thousands of documents, CDs, and VHS and cassette tapes in our organizational files since 2019. Whitney's volunteer contributions and experience in archival science are helping to preserve four decades of The Advocates' history.
The Law Firm Pro Bono Award is granted to Goodwin Procter, LLP. We are overwhelmed by the contributions that they and hundreds of their colleagues have made in preparing more than 120 pro se country conditions packets. These resources will benefit our clients from around the world!
This year, as with every year, The Advocates for Human Rights is grateful for every one of our volunteers, donors, staff, partners, and friends. The work The Advocates does is only possible because of you and your dedication to human rights.
