USAID

Leanne Webster, Director of The Carter Center’s Rule of Law Program, speaks at Georgia Law

The University of Georgia School of Law recently hosted Leanne Webster, the Director of The Carter Center‘s Rule of Law Program. Webster’s presentation was part of the law school’s Public Interest Week, organized in partnership with the Career Development Office, which provides students with perspectives from the diverse field of public interest work.

Webster began with an introductory video of The Carter Center (“TCC”), an Atlanta-based nongovernmental organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. She then situated her Program’s work within the organization’s pillars of global health and peace initiatives, defined the rule of law, and provided students with a number of initiatives overseen in her unit, ranging from access to information for women and marginalized communities in Bangladesh to strengthening civil society to counter authoritarian slide in the United States. Webster shared several datasets explaining why the rule of law needs robust support globally and provided specific examples of how lawyers can contribute to upholding it. She concluded her talk with an open Q&A with the audience.

After Webster’s talk, Georgia Law students Hellie Badaruddin (J.D. ’28), Reny Del Jesús Mazara (LL.M. ’27), Divya Kishore (J.D. ’27), and alumna Ane Caroline Ferri Victoria (LL.M. ’26) met with Webster and Rennie Sloan, Associate Director of Communications at TCC, for lunch in the Rusk Center’s Louis B. Sohn Library of International Relations.

After receiving her law degree and practicing litigation for several years, Webster joined the international development community in 2010 as a democracy and governance officer with the United States Agency for International Development. Her first overseas assignment with USAID was in El Salvador. She was subsequently posted in Afghanistan and Paraguay. Since then, Webster has worked on U.S. government-funded projects globally with implementing partners, supporting efforts to consolidate the rule of law, strengthen civil society organizations, broaden opportunity for marginalized youth, and fortify respect for human rights. Her roles have included senior leadership responsibilities in both overseas and U.S. positions. Webster received her Juris Doctor from the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah and her Master of Public Administration from the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University.

Shannon Green of USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance speaks at Georgia Law

Shannon N. Green, a UGA graduate who serves as the Assistant to the Administrator of the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), spoke to students at the University of Georgia School of Law last week. The discussion, entitled “Building a Career in Human Rights Diplomacy,” was moderated by Dr. Amanda Murdie, Head of the Department of International Affairs and Georgia Athletic Association Professor of International Affairs.

In Green’s current role, she leads USAID’s efforts to invigorate democracy, enhance human rights and justice, and bolster governance that advances the public interest and delivers inclusive development. Previously, Green was the Senior Advisor to the Administrator and Executive Director of the Anti-Corruption Task Force where she led USAID’s historic elevation of anti-corruption and aligned the Agency’s policies, programming, and resources to counter corruption at a global scale.

Before returning to public service in 2021, Green was the Senior Director of Programs at the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) and Director and Senior Fellow of the Human Rights Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where her research focused on addressing threats to democratic institutions and norms, enhancing justice and accountability, and improving security forces’ respect for human rights.

From 2004 – 2015, Green held a number of positions in the U.S. Government, including as the Senior Director for Global Engagement on the National Security Council. In that role, she spearheaded efforts to deepen and broaden U.S. engagement with critical populations overseas, including the President’s Stand with Civil Society Agenda and young leader initiatives around the world. Prior to that, Green served in the DRG Center, where she developed policies, strategies, and programs to advance political reform and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa.

This event was part of a visit organized by the UGA Office of Global Engagement under the leadership of the Associate Provost for Global Engagement, Martin Kagel, as part of the FYOS Global Citizenship Cluster series. The event was co-sponsored by the School of Public and International Affairs.