TJSL Alumna Christie Edwards Elected to Prestigious Position
May 6, 2013
TJSL alumna Christie Edwards ’07 has been elected as the Co-Chair of Women in International Law Interest Group (WILIG).
“I’m extremely honored to have been elected as the WILIG Co-Chair, which gives me the opportunity to give back to the international legal community and invest in the next generation of women leaders,” said Edwards. “As we launch the WILIG Mentoring Program this summer, I look forward to encouraging students and young professionals to think creatively about opportunities to use their legal skills to serve communities in need and to advocate for those who have no voice.”
“This is truly a great honor, and I could not be happier or more proud of our own Christie Edwards,” said TJSL Professor Susan Tiefenbrun.
In its official announcement of the election, WILIG said:
“Christie Edwards has worked on gender issues (including trafficking, violence against women, and legal advocacy) for several D.C. organizations, including Vital Voices Global Partnership, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and Women Thrive Worldwide. She received her J.D. from Thomas Jefferson School of Law, specializing in international human rights law. In addition to her private practice of asylum representation for political refugees, she became an Adjunct Professor and Pro Bono Fellow at TJSL in 2007, teaching an international human rights course and coaching students to compete in an international moot court competition. Christie also completed her LL.M. degree at AU’s Washington College of Law, specializing in human rights and gender. In 2010, she received a Helton Fellowship from the American Society of International Law, which allowed her to work in Casablanca, Morocco, with local NGOs on an advocacy campaign for greater legal rights for single mothers. She has published law review articles on the cultural context of sex trafficking in China, the use of gender budget analysis to achieve educational parity for women and girls, and legal advocacy strategies for women’s rights in Morocco.”
Edwards recently traveled to Israel, where she was doing advocacy training with a group of Jewish and Israeli-Palestinian women.