Staff

Staff Biographies

Matt Squeri, Staff Director

Matt Squeri joined the CECC staff in March 2021. As Foreign Policy Advisor for Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) from 2019-2021, he drafted significant legislation related to Uyghur human rights, Hong Kong, and Chinese government censorship, as well as other issues related to China, Taiwan, and refugees. From 2015-2019, he was a Legislative Assistant for Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND). Previously, he served in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2010-2014, including two years as an East Asia policy advisor, and at the Center for Strategic & International Studies from 2006-2008 and again in 2010. Mr. Squeri holds a B.A. in political science from Stanford University and an M.A. in strategic studies and international economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Todd Stein, Deputy Staff Director

Todd Stein joined the CECC staff in March 2021.  He has worked on a range of foreign policy and human rights issues from the perspectives of the U.S. Congress, the Executive Branch and the NGO sector.  His background on China policy includes serving from 2014-17 as senior advisor to Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights Sarah Sewall, including as lead staffer in her dual role as Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues.  Before that, he was Director of Government Relations at the International Campaign for Tibet.  Most recently he worked as senior policy advisor to Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME).  Previous Hill experience includes service with Rep. Tom Allen (D-ME), Sen. Paul Simon (D-IL) and the bipartisan Arms Control and Foreign Policy Caucus.  He has degrees in International Relations and Spanish from the University of California at Davis.

Judy Wright, Director of Administration, Budget, and Contracts

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.

Scott Flipse, Director of Policy & Media Relations

Scott Flipse came to the CECC from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom where he was Deputy Director for Policy. He also managed the Commission’s East Asia programs where he developed training and network capacity for human rights lawyers in China; built early warning defense systems, through social media, to monitor societal violence in Burma; assisted efforts to repeal ‘blasphemy laws’ in Indonesia by creating regional advocacy networks and media campaigns; and drafted two studies on conditions faced by North Korean refugees in China. His previous experience includes associate director and adjunct professor for the University of Notre Dame’s Washington Semester and legislative assistant for Representative Frank Wolf, with a portfolio that focused on defense, human rights, and foreign operations appropriations. Flipse holds a Ph.D. in Diplomatic History, from the University of Notre Dame, specializing in U.S. foreign policy in Asia.

Amy Reger, Research Associate

Amy Reger joined the CECC staff in July 2012. She previously worked as a researcher at the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP). Ms. Reger has worked in the human rights and journalism fields, with a focus on China, for more than a decade. She is an alumnus of the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies, and traveled extensively throughout China and Asia during studies in Nanjing, Beijing and Taiwan. She speaks and reads Mandarin Chinese.

Jen Salen, Senior Research Associate

Jen Salen joined the CECC staff in July 2012. Before joining the Commission, she managed China technical assistance programs in the areas of public interest law, civil society legal advocacy, and women’s rights for the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative and in rural women’s political participation and civil society capacity building for the International Republican Institute. Earlier in her career, Ms. Salen was involved in educational initiatives to expand Chinese language education and East Asian studies at U.S. elementary and high schools. She received a bachelor’s degree in history from Bryn Mawr College and a master’s degree in East Asian Studies from Harvard University.

Kiel Downey, Senior Advisor

Kiel Downey joined the CECC staff in November 2021. He brings a decade of experience in global programming on rule of law and human rights topics, including for U.S. Government interagency audiences, with a core competence in human rights and rule of law issues in China. He has researched and written about China’s criminal justice system, regulation of religious communities, media regulation, rule of law in the commercial sector, and other related topics. He has also taught university courses in human rights, international politics, and foreign policy. He received a B.A. in International Relations and Linguistics from Stanford University and a M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. He speaks and reads Mandarin Chinese.

Anna Scott Bell, Research Associate

Anna Scott Bell joined the CECC in January 2022. She was previously editor of the Party Watch Initiative and analyst at the Center for Advanced China Research, where she oversaw CACR’s flagship publications. Ms. Bell has a worked on a range of Asia policy issues, with a particular focus on human rights, religious freedom, and civil society in China and Taiwan, holding past positions at the Global Taiwan Institute and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Ms. Bell holds an MA in Asian Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and an MA in Theology from Regent College, Canada. She has lived, worked, and studied in Beijing, China, and is proficient in Mandarin Chinese.