THE SENTRY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Sentry Team
- Deputy Director of Policy
Brian focuses on conflict dynamics in Eastern Africa. His research has appeared in a number of peer-reviewed journals. He previously worked as a journalist and as a project coordinator at The Centre for International Governance Innovation in Canada.
Connie Pendleton is a media lawyer who for 23 years has represented newspapers, magazines, book and online publishers, podcasters, cable networks, broadcasters, journalists, and not for profit organizations in their First Amendment matters.
Denisse is responsible for setting up engagement and advocacy frameworks in the UK and Europe. She has over 15 years of experience working in financial crime prevention with financial institutions, regulators, and start-ups and provides independent analysis at G7 and G20 Summits.
Job Titles:
- Senior Investigator
- Journalist
Douglas is an investigative journalist focused on financial crime, human rights, law enforcement, and corruption. His work has appeared in Time, Foreign Policy, The Village Voice, The Intercept, and elsewhere. He previously served as an economics editor for Agence France-Presse.
Elizabeth oversees The Sentry's editorial and review processes, manages the production of all external products, and edits reports and communications. She has over 10 years of experience in publishing, content creation, and project management for diverse international businesses.
Job Titles:
- Advisory Board Members
- Co - Founder of the Clooney Foundation for Justice
George Clooney is the co-founder of the Clooney Foundation for Justice, as well as the Co-Founder of the Sentry. George has been deeply involved in creating accountability for genocide and other atrocity crimes in Africa and beyond for nearly two decades. He has testified at the UN Security Council as well as before the US Senate on multiple occasions about the need for accountability for atrocities committed in Darfur.
George has advocated for peace in African conflicts directly with numerous heads of state and legislators around the world. He also co-founded two other human rights initiatives, Not On Our Watch and The Satellite Sentinel Project, which joined together with the Enough Project to become The Sentry.
He has traveled to active war zones in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His first trip was with his father, Nick, after which they spoke at the rally for Darfur on the Washington Mall, which attracted 100,000 participants. The pair, along with John Prendergast, were also arrested in 2012 when they were part of the delegation that peacefully demonstrated in front of the Sudanese Embassy in Washington, D.C., calling worldwide attention to the human rights violations being committed in Sudan.
In 2019 he led a successful boycott of nine hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei following the country's attempts to enforce the death penalty for homosexuality. He has a unique position and ability to galvanize people around human rights issues, and over the years, he has also raised hundreds of millions of dollars for causes such as the Haiti earthquake victims, Indonesian tsunami and 9/11 victims. He also helped organize the March for Our Lives in the aftermath of the Parkland school shooting.
Job Titles:
- Director of Communications
Greg leads all media relations, crisis response, creative production, and communications programs. His career spans work and expertise in multiple sectors, including technology, entertainment, intellectual property, the environment, arms control, human rights, and international security.
Ian is responsible for providing strategic direction and results for the organization's legislative and regional policy agenda. He previously worked as the associate director of advocacy for American Jewish World Service (AJWS) and as a community organizer for Illinois People's Action.
Job Titles:
- Director of Investigations
J.R. oversees The Sentry's investigations into financial crimes and corruption linked to violence and atrocities. He previously worked with the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission and the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the Department of Defense.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director of Digital Communications and Creative Services
Jen leads The Sentry's digital communications initiatives and oversees the organization's digital platforms. Before joining The Sentry, she worked in international development, public diplomacy, and non-profit marketing.
John Prendergast is a human rights and anti-corruption activist as well as a New York Times best-selling author, and is the Co-Founder of the Sentry. John has worked for the White House, the State Department, two members of Congress, the National Intelligence Council, UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group, and the U.S. Institute of Peace. He has been a big brother in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program for over 35 years to ten different boys, as well as a youth counselor and basketball coach. John is the author or co-author of eleven books.
During his time in government, John was part of the facilitation team behind the successful two-year mediation led by Anthony Lake which ended the 1998-2000 war between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the deadliest war in the world at the time. He was also part of peace processes for Burundi (led by President Nelson Mandela), Sudan (led by Lazaro Sumbeiywo) and DR Congo.
John has been awarded seven honorary doctorates. He is or has been a visiting professor at Stanford University, Yale Law School, Columbia University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Claremont McKenna College, Kean University, American University, American University in Cairo, the University of San Diego, the University of Pittsburgh, Temple University, Albright College, St. Mary's College, the University of Massachusetts, and Eckerd College.
John has appeared in five episodes of 60 Minutes, for which the team won an Emmy Award, and helped create African characters and stories for two episodes of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, one focusing on the recruitment of child soldiers and the other on rape as a war strategy. John has also traveled to Africa with NBC's Dateline, ABC's Nightline, The PBS NewsHour, CNN's Inside Africa, Newsweek/The Daily Beast, and The New York Times Magazine.
He has appeared in several documentaries including Merci Congo, When Elephants Fight, Blood in the Mobile, Sand and Sorrow, Darfur Now, 3 Points, Son of South Sudan, and War Child. John appears in the Warner Brothers' motion picture The Good Lie, starring Reese Witherspoon. He is a primary subject of the book by Jane Bussman, "A Journey to the Dark Heart of Nameless Unspeakable Evil." He has been profiled in The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Men's Vogue, Time, Entertainment Weekly, GQ, Oprah Magazine, The Hill, Capitol File, Arrive, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Spectator Life, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Job Titles:
- Director of Illicit Finance Policy
Justyna oversees The Sentry's illicit finance policy team. She is an attorney with over a dozen years of experience working on financial crimes issues, including as the lead sanctions lawyer at Morgan Stanley, as an expert on countering the financing of terrorism at the United Nations, and as an attorney-advisor for the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Job Titles:
- Communications Coordinator
Madeline manages The Sentry's media and digital communications needs relating to the website, press and social media, and email communications. Her work prior to joining The Sentry focused on good governance, gender equality, and human trafficking.
Michaela coordinates business and administrative needs for The Sentry and provides executive support to the founding director and the operations and development teams. She previously taught English in South Korea and received her BA from UW-Madison.
Job Titles:
- Investigative Coordinator and Data Specialist
Michelle focuses on knowledge management, cross team collaboration, and internal training. She specializes in using technology and data to advance investigative work. Previously, she was an investigator on the DRC team and an analyst focused on sanctions-related risk on a portfolio including Africa and Latin America.
Nathalia is a Senior Investigator working on the Central African Republic with a focus on the economic and financial drivers of sectarian violence.
Nir Kaissar, CFA, is the founder of Unison Advisors, an asset management firm, and a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He has worked as a lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell and a consultant at Ernst & Young.
Oliver focuses on UK and EU illicit finance policy. He is a British lawyer with over 12 years of experience practicing international human rights and international criminal law, including over seven years serving at the United Nations international criminal tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
Roger is a partner at Dentons in London, specializing in international sanctions and trade. He previously served as a sanctions specialist at the European Commission and as a legal advisor on sanctions to HM Treasury in the UK.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Sentry Team
- Senior Development Manager
Willem coordinates The Sentry's fundraising and partnerships efforts. Before joining The Sentry, Willem managed public sector partnerships at the International Center for Transitional Justice. He previously worked in Iraq and Ukraine for the French humanitarian organization ACTED.
Zain Ahmad - Chief Legal Officer
Job Titles:
- Legal Counsel
- Member of the Sentry Team