Karen Irene Tse (born October 20, 1964) is an American

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

defender and

social entrepreneur Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of o ...

. She is an American of Chinese descent living in Geneva, running a global non-profit organization that fosters legal rights in developing countries. An international

attorney and ordained

Unitarian Universalist Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

minister, Reverend Karen I. Tse works with Rule of Law initiatives across the globe. Tse received her master's degree from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

School of Divinity, and received her J.D. degree from the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

(UCLA) School of Law. She obtained her bachelor's degree from

Scripps College Scripps College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Claremont, California. It was founded as a member of the Claremont Colleges in 1 ...

. From 1991 to 1994 she was a legal aid lawyer with the San Francisco Public Defender's Office in California.LinkedIn Profile
/ref> From 1994 to 1996 she was the Deputy Director and Supervising Attorney for the Cambodian Defenders Project in

Phnom Penh, Cambodia Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become ...

and from 1996 to 1997 she was a Judicial Mentor for the United Nations Center for Human Rights in

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

. In 2000, Tse founded

International Bridges to Justice International Bridges to Justice (IBJ) is a non-governmental organization based in Geneva, Switzerland. The organization's stated mission is "to protect the basic legal rights of ordinary citizens in developing countries by guaranteeing all citizens ...

(IBJ), a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

organization which aims to eradicate torture in the 21st century and protect

due process Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pers ...

rights for accused people throughout the world. IBJ is dedicated to protecting the legal rights of everyday citizens in developing countries, and has a special focus on the indigent accused. The organization focuses on institutionalizing defender practices by training

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...

s, or legal aid lawyers, in countries where their help is needed. IBJ has expanded to countries throughout

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, including Rwanda, Burundi, China, Cambodia, India, and Zimbabwe. As a

, Tse is supported by the Skoll,

Echoing Green In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the list ...

and

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, ...

foundations. Tse's method is unique, being both bottom-up and top-down, inspired by her twin roles of minister and lawyer. The group supports on-the-ground defense lawyers, but also interacts with police, prosecutors and judges rather than treat them as "the enemy" since they are the entities committing or condoning the abuses. At the same time, IBJ focuses on individual cases but also seeks to reform the overall public justice systems where it operates. This idea of "embracing the other side," as well as working at the individual and system-wide level, makes Tse's and IBJ's work distinctive. Tse was speaking at conferences, amongst others at the WINConference in 2002, 2011, 2014 and 2015, to find supporters and engagement for International Bridges of Justice. At the WINconference in 2014, she received the WIN Inspiring Women Worldwide Award, an award that recognizes women who model values of global leadership, authentic contribution and integration of noble values, for her contributions to humanity.

References

External links

International Bridges to JusticeProfile at Ashoka.orgProfile at EchoingGreen.orgKaren Tse Receives 2008 ABA International Human Rights AwardCNN Video: Philanthropy and the Economy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tse, Karen 1964 births People from Cleveland American people of Chinese descent Harvard Divinity School alumni Living people Scripps College alumni Swiss activists Swiss humanitarians Swiss people of American descent Swiss people of Chinese descent Swiss Universalists Swiss women activists Unitarian Universalists UCLA School of Law alumni