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

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, Research Associate and Manager of 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.

Anka Lee, Research Associate

Anka Lee joined the CECC in February 2010 and covers Civil Society and Workers’ Rights issues. Prior to his work at the Commission, Mr. Lee worked as a journalist in Hong Kong and mainland China and contributed essays on Chinese history and politics to publications, including Time Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, and NBC News. From 2003 to 2005, Mr. Lee worked as a legislative aide and policy analyst for the California Legislature specializing in juvenile justice. Born in Hong Kong and raised in California, Mr. Lee completed his graduate work in modern Chinese history at Harvard University, and is a 2003 graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Lee is fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin.

Sharon Mann, Senior Counsel

Sharon Mann joined the CECC staff in September 2009. From 1992 until joining the Commission, Ms. Mann practiced law in greater China, as a foreign lawyer in Hong Kong and as managing partner of the Beijing office of a U.S. law firm, handling foreign investment and trade issues. In 2002, she opened the Trade Facilitation Office at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, and served as Senior Director until 2005, handling matters relating to China’s accession to the WTO. Ms. Mann has served as a member of the Board of Governors of the American Chamber of Commerce in China (2006 and 2007) and the Board of Governors of the Hong Kong American Chamber of Commerce (2002), and Chair of the China Business Committee (2001) and Law Committee (1999 and 2000) of the Hong Kong American Chamber of Commerce. Ms. Mann has a BA in Chinese language from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and a JD from Stanford Law School. She has spoken and lectured extensively on Chinese commercial law and trade. Recent publications include: Chinas sich entwickelnde gewerbliche Strategie und seine WTO Verpflichtungen, Chapter in BusinessFocus China: Die Automobileindustrie [Businessfocus China: the Automotive Industry], GIC Deutschland Verlag, 2008; Competition Law and Policy Developments in China: the New Antimonopoly Law, Asian Council, June 2008; The Two WTO Cases Relating to Chinese Subsidies, China Tax Intelligence, May 2007 (co-authored with Julian Chen); China’s New Automotive Industrial Policy and its WTO Commitments, International Trade Law Review, 2006; Protecting Yourself Against Online Piracy in China, in Global Intellectual Property Asset Management Report, July 2005; and Hong Kong as China Headquarters, Chapter in J. Dellapenna and P. Norton, editors, China and Hong Kong in Legal Transition: Commercial and Humanitarian Issues, American Bar Association, 2000.