Ru Freeman

Ru Freeman is a Sri Lankan and American writer whose work appears internationally, including in the Guardian, the New York Times. She is the author of the novels A Disobedient Girl (2009) and On Sal Mal Lane (2013), a New York Times Editor’s Choice Book, both appearing in translation, and editor of Extraordinary Rendition: American Writers on Palestine (2015). She is a contributing editor of the Asian American Literary Review, and blogs for the Huffington Post on literature and politics. She is the recipient of many awards, including the JH Kafka prize for fiction by an American Woman. She teaches creative writing at Columbia University. Kerri Kennedy is the Associate General Secretary for International Programs at the American Friends Service Committee. She has 18 years of experience in over 40 countries, managing international development and emergency response programs in areas of conflict and post conflict environments with a focus on inclusive governance systems, civic education, and advocacy campaigns, gender, and rights-based policy development. She previously served as Executive Director for Women's Campaign International and manager for Mercy Corps’ Gulf Coast Hurricane Relief and Recovery Program. She has produced documentary films, facilitated strategic plans, conducted country and political assessments, created advocacy and civic education campaigns for public and private sector clients, developed human rights curricula, and trained leaders around the world.