Staff Biographies

Steven D. Marshall, Senior Advisor and Prisoner Database Program Director

Before joining the CECC staff in March 2002, Steven D. Marshall spent more than two decades traveling widely on the Chinese mainland and researching the human rights situation in China and the Tibetan areas of China. He has served as an expert consultant on China and Tibetan issues for Congressional members and their staff as well as State Department officers. His publications include In the Interest of the State: Hostile Elements III - Political Imprisonment in Tibet, 1987-2001 (2002); Suppressing Dissent: Hostile Elements II - Political Imprisonment in Tibet, 1987-2000 (2001); Rukhag 3: The Nuns of Drapchi Prison (2000); Tibet since 1950: Silence, Prison or Exile (2000); Hostile Elements: A Study of Political Imprisonment in Tibet, 1987-1998 (1999); and Tibet Outside the TAR: Control, Exploitation and Assimilation - Development with Chinese Characteristics, a 2,700 page CD-ROM with interactive text, images, and maps (1997). In addition, Mr. Marshall compiled, designed and maintained a database of Tibetan political prisoners that the State Department described as “the world's most comprehensive.” He also presented lectures about the Tibetan areas of China at the Foreign Service Institute for China Area Studies seminars in 2001-2008, and testified on Tibetan human rights before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2008 and before the House International Relations Committee in 1999.

Judith F. Wright, Director of Administration

Judith F. Wright joined the CECC staff in February 2002, after five years working as an executive assistant on Capitol Hill. From 1997 through 2001, she was responsible for managing and coordinating appointments, staff assignments and travel schedules for Congresswoman Marge Roukema (R-NJ). Her duties also included managing official functions, planning meetings with visiting New Jersey delegations, and overseeing correspondence between Ms. Roukema and other government officials. Prior to that, she oversaw scheduling and staff assignments, and tracked activity on the House floor for Congresswoman Karen McCarthy (D-MO). Ms. Wright also served on the Legislative Resource Center Staff for the House of Representatives Office of the Clerk. While there, she assisted the Director with speech writing, edited and proofread official correspondence, and reviewed campaign financial reports and lobbying reports. She also researched and updated the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the Bibliography of the U.S. Congress, and the Guide to Research Collections. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Maryland-College Park.

Kara Abramson, Advocacy Director

Kara Abramson joined the CECC staff in November 2005. She received an A.B. from Princeton University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she focused on human rights law. During law school, Ms. Abramson interned at the U.S. Committee for Refugees, International Service for Human Rights, and the Worker Rights Consortium. Ms. Abramson spent the 2003-2004 academic year researching Chinese legal education and teaching U.S. civil procedure as a Fulbright fellow to the Sichuan University Law School. Her publications include articles on the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, trafficking in persons, and Chinese legal education. She speaks Mandarin Chinese, Uyghur, Japanese, and French, and has basic proficiency in Korean.

Lawrence T. Liu, Senior Counsel

Toy Reid, Senior Research Associate

Toy Reid joined the CECC staff in April 2008. He holds a bachelor’s degree in East Asian studies from Furman University and a master’s degree in Chinese philosophy and religion from Harvard University. Mr. Reid has lived and worked in the PRC, Taiwan, and Japan and studied at Kansai Gaidai University, Beijing Normal University, and the National Taiwan University. His publications include articles on China-Taiwan political trends, cross-strait trade and Taiwanese investment in China, Taiwan security issues, and US-China relations. He speaks Mandarin Chinese fluently and has basic proficiency in Japanese. Before joining the Commission, Mr. Reid worked at the Center for Asia-Pacific Policy Studies in the Washington office of the RAND Corporation for three years. His research portfolio at RAND focused on Taiwanese domestic politics as well as social unrest, commercial rule of law, and military modernization in the PRC.

Anna Brettell, Senior Advisor

Anna Brettell joined the CECC staff in January 2009. Previously she was program officer for East Asia with primary responsibility for China at the National Endowment for Democracy. Ms. Brettell has been a Research Associate at the Harrison Program on the Future Global Agenda, University of Maryland, and a visiting professor at Cornell University and the University of Vermont, teaching courses in Chinese and Asian politics, international environmental policy and law, and comparative politics. Her Ph.D. in Government and Politics is from the University of Maryland and her M.A. in international environmental policy is from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She has lived and worked in Greater China for more than nine years and speaks Mandarin Chinese. Her publications include articles and book chapters regarding the relationships among economic development, levels of pollution, and public participation; Chinese environmental groups; environmental justice and China's complaint and dispute resolution systems; and environmental cooperation in East Asia.

Abigail Story, Manager of Outreach and Special Projects

Abigail Story joined the CECC staff in January 2009. She received her B.A. in Chinese and Linguistics from the College of William and Mary and her M.A. with a concentration in Chinese Psycholinguistics from The Ohio State University. During undergraduate and graduate school, she completed language education and conducted linguistic research in China. Prior to joining the Commission, Ms. Story worked in the New York office of Human Rights in China (HRIC). She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.