Meet Our Staff

Joanne Bauer is Senior Researcher, Business and Human Rights Program and Adjunct Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs. She co-leads the Teaching Business and Human Rights Forum based at Columbia and involving more than 260 faculty at 180 institutions in more than 30 countries.  Bauer is editor of Forging Environmentalism: Justice, Livelihood and Contested Environments (ME Sharpe, 2006), and co-editor of The East Asian Challenge for Human Rights (Cambridge University Press, 1999).  From 2006-2013, Bauer was Senior Researcher at Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, where she was responsible for Asia, as well as the thematic areas of women's rights, HIV/AIDS and access to medicines globally.  Prior to that (1994-2005) she was Director of Studies at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs  where she founded research programs on human rights and environmental values, directed the Fellows program, and founded the periodical, Human Rights Dialogue.  Bauer is Senior Fellow, Melbourne University  Law School and an adviser and consultant to a number of non-profits and projects, including Inclusive Development International, Accountability Counsel, Oxfam America, and Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.

Stephanie V. Grepo joined ISHR as the Director of Capacity Building in 2008. During her tenure, she has increased the number of female participants in the Human Rights Advocates Program, secured funding to create openings in HRAP for LGBT and disability rights advocates, and encouraged HRAP alumni—who can be found in 93 countries around the globe—to cooperate across class years and geographic boundaries. She has advised alumni on their work ranging from youth empowerment in South Sudan and Bosnia to capacity building for indigenous peoples to advocacy around prisoners’ rights in Nigeria. She has assisted them with grant proposals that have garnered $3 million in funding from the Global Fund for Women, the National Endowment for Democracy and United States Institute of Peace. In 2011, she created a summer program at ISHR through which Columbia University students volunteer at organizations led by HRAP and AHDA alumni around the globe. She designed and won funding to develop ISHR’s first MOOC which is on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and can be found on edX. 

With the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe from 2000 to 2007, Stephanie developed multi-ethnic experiential education programs in Kosovo; created and led a $2 million euros grants program to support confidence-building projects at the grassroots level in North Macedonia; worked on return and integration issues and led a field office of 10 staff in one of the most politically sensitive regions of Croatia; and served as the youth and education advisor to the OSCE Head of Mission in Serbia. She has observed elections in Bosnia and Georgia. A lecturer at The New School, Stephanie has led graduate-level practicums with clients including the International Rescue Committee and Transparency International. In 2021, she joined the faculty of The School of The New York Times. She earned a master’s degree from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Her volunteer experience with resettling refugees through Catholic Charities led her to work in human rights.

Gergana Halpern brings extensive experience in program management and academic administration, with a background in law, research, and advocacy. She joined the Institute for the Study of Human Rights in 2014 and has held various roles with ISHR's Education Program since then. Most recently as Director of Education, she oversaw daily operations and managed all aspects of the Institute’s graduate, undergraduate, and certificate programs. She spearheaded academic and administrative policies focused on supporting teaching and fostering student success, academic excellence, and outstanding educational outcomes. She oversaw sustained programmatic growth, leading and executing innovative program evaluation, curriculum development, and alumni engagement initiatives. Under her leadership, the Education Program also expanded career mentoring, skills-building, and research and experiential opportunities for students.

Prior to joining the Institute, Gergana served in research, advocacy, and campaigning roles at Amnesty International’s USA and UN offices, working on issues of migration, maternal health, and socio-economic rights, and at the Scholars at Risk Network at NYU, where she engaged in legal advocacy around academic freedom.

Gergana holds a J.D. in International and Comparative Law (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law) and a B.A. in International Studies and Political Science (Ramapo College). She is an avid reader of Science Fiction and a newly minted swimming enthusiast.

As the Institute for the Study of Human Rights' Undergraduate Education Manager, Julia provides student support, strategy for the institute, and program operations. Julia comes to ISHR after a 13 year career as an entrepreneur in the fields of maternal health and strategic marketing. She has served as a doula, childbirth consultant, and yoga instructor for thousands around the Upper West Side, NYC, and abroad. Her previous experience in the private entertainment sector was as Director of Film, TV, and Strategic Marketing for Universal Motown Records. She is a student herself at Columbia, currently pursuing an Executive Masters in Public Administration, with a dual concentration in Urban Social Policy and Management Innovation (and prioritizing the inclusion of Human Rights coursework in her studies!). A native New Yorker and Vassar College graduate who has lived in Australia, Europe, and the Middle East, Julia currently lives in South Harlem with her husband Jonah Geffen and two daughters. She is honored to serve the vital work of our human rights students and advance the goals of ISHR.

Magdalena joined the Institute for the Study of Human Rights in 2020 as the Communications and Outreach Coordinator. She holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from New York University with a human rights concentration and a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina. Originally from Argentina, Magdalena has been based in New York since 2011. She has worked for organizations such as Amnesty International USA, Human Rights Watch, the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, and Women Across Frontiers International Magazine. She is a member of the Women’s Human Rights Coordination group for Amnesty International where her main focus is monitoring and writing about human rights violations in Latin America, especially women’s rights and discrimination issues.

Anna Miller is the Graduate Program Manager at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights. Anna graduated from Columbia University with her MA in Human Rights Studies. As a student at Columbia, Anna researched 21st century antisemitism and wrote her thesis: "2020 Digital Antisemitism: A Contemporary Content Analysis of History’s Oldest Hatred." Previously, Anna received her BA from St. Norbert College where she studied English and Gender Studies. Before joining ISHR, Anna worked at nonprofit organizations in the Chicagoland area, specifically in the fields of public affairs, communications, and advancement. 

Glenn Mitoma is a Lecturer in the Discipline of Human Rights and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University.  His research and teaching focus on the history of human rights and human rights education, with current projects on the role of education in advancing respect for human rights, and the history of human rights education.