Jimmy Carter was the 39th US President. Significant foreign policy accomplishments of his administration included the Panama Canal treaties, the Camp David Accords, the treaty of peace between Egypt and Israel, the SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union, and the establishment of US diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. He championed human rights throughout the world. On the domestic side, the administration's achievements included a comprehensive energy program conducted by a new Department of Energy and major environmental protection legislation, including the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. In 1982, he founded The Carter Center. Carter Center fellows, associates, and staff join with President Carter in efforts to resolve conflict, promote democracy, protect human rights, and prevent disease and other afflictions. On December 10, 2002, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Carter "for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."

Karin Ryan was named director of the Carter Center's Human Rights Program on Sept. 1, 2006, having worked for the center in a variety of roles since April 1988. As director, Ryan works with former US President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter on a range of issues, including assisting their efforts on behalf of victims of human rights violations through personal interventions with heads of state.

Saad Eddin Ibrahim is an Egyptian American sociologist and writer. He is one of Egypt's leading human rights and democracy activists. He is a strong critic of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

Larry Cox was appointed executive director of Amnesty International USA(AIUSA) in 2006. A veteran human rights advocate, he came to AIUSA after serving 11 years as a senior program officer for the Ford Foundation's human rights unit. He has a bachelor of arts degree in history from Mount Union College, has done graduate work at the University of Geneva, and is currently pursuing a master of arts degree in religion and human rights at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

Sima Samar is chairperson of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and a United Nations special reporter on human rights conditions in Sudan. She obtained her degree in medicine in 1982 from Kabul University. Samar publicly refuses to accept that women must be kept in purdah (secluded from the public) and speaks out against the wearing of the burqa (head-to-foot wrap), which was enforced first by the fundamentalist Mujahideen and then by the Taliban.