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 2001-2005, and testified on Tibetan human rights 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 1999 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, Japanese, and French, and has intermediate proficiency in Uighur and basic proficiency in Korean.

Katherine Zhao, Senior Research Associate
 
Katherine Zhao joined the CECC staff in June 2006.  Ms. Zhao is a 2005 graduate of Wellesley College where she earned a BA in International Relations, focusing on East Asian Studies.  Before joining the Commission, she worked as a legal assistant on race and gender discrimination cases at Sanford, Wittels & Heisler, LLP.  She has previously studied abroad at the Beijing Center for Language and Culture, researched domestic violence in China and interned at the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations.  She is a native speaker of Mandarin Chinese.

Lawrence T. Liu, Senior Counsel

Lawrence T. Liu joined the CECC staff in August 2006.  Before joining the CECC, Mr. Liu spent three years in the New York and Beijing offices of Sullivan & Cromwell.

After graduating with a degree in public policy from Brown University, Mr. Liu spent one year in Taiwan researching elementary school English education as a Fulbright fellow.  He also spent one year in Taiwan as a reporter for the Taiwan News covering politics.  While at Columbia Law School, Mr. Liu interned in the Beijing office of Jun He Law Offices and wrote about China's consumer protections laws.  He speaks Mandarin Chinese.

Andrea Worden, General Counsel and Senior Advisor on Criminal Justice

Andrea Worden rejoined the CECC staff in March 2008. Most recently, she was Counsel at O’Melveny & Myers, LLP. Ms. Worden graduated from Yale University with degrees in East Asian studies and history, and received an M.A. in modern Chinese history from Stanford University, where she also obtained her law degree. Previously, she was a Senior Counsel at CECC and a Fellow at The China Law Center at Yale Law School. Her China-related publications include articles on criminal justice and procedure, human rights, the environment, and the 1989 democracy movement. Ms. Worden taught English in Tianjin and Changsha from 1987-1989 with the Yale-China Association. She speaks Mandarin Chinese.

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.