JOHN HEFFERNAN JOINS RFK CENTER’S SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeffrey Buchanan
buchanan@rfkmemorial.org 
(202) 463-7575 ext 241

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 27nd, 2009— The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights is pleased to announce the appointment of longtime human rights advocate, John Heffernan, as Director of SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER. Heffernan will direct the educational and advocacy project founded by Kerry Kennedy. SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER uses the experiences of fifty-one courageous human rights defenders around the world who have committed their lives to issues ranging from demilitarization to children of war, from environmental activism to religious self-determination, to educate students and the public at large and urge them to take action.

SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER began as a book by  Kennedy and has been adapted into a dramatic production by noted playwright Ariel Dorfman, and performed in eleven countries, most recently in Romania. It also features an exhibit of human rights defenders’ portraits by the late Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Eddie Adams. SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER includes an acclaimed human rights education curriculum which has already been distributed to schools in the U.S., Europe and Africa.   

“John’s proven success in educating and mobilizing the public around some of today’s most pressing human rights issues will be a great asset in the RFK Center’s efforts to engage new audiences to take action against injustice around the world,” says Lynn Delaney, Executive Director of the RFK Center. “Under John’s leadership, we hope to build on the continued success of SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER, and construct one of the world’s premier human rights education initiatives, inspiring thousands more around the globe to speak out against abuse, discrimination and exploitation.”

For the past three years, Heffernan has served as the U.S. Holocaust Museum’s Genocide Prevention Initiative Director, where he oversaw the Museum’s hugely successful public outreach initiatives and activities including spearheading campaigns to build public awareness of genocide in Darfur. Previously, he worked as a human rights investigator with Physicians for Human Rights, Chief of Party for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in Guyana, Executive Director for the Coalition for International Justice, as Country Representative to Croatia and Sudan for the International Rescue Committee, and Vice President of the Business Council for the United Nations.

The play, Speak Truth To Power: Voices From Beyond the Dark, premiered in 2000 at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington D.C., hosted by President William Jefferson Clinton. The photography exhibition, launched at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, has toured to over twenty cities in the United States as well as internationally. SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER began its international tour in Greece followed by venues in New York, Geneva, London, Madrid, Barcelona, Sydney, Helsinki, Rome, Milan, Seoul, Florence, Mantua, Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Doha with actors including Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Glenn Close, Sigourney Weaver, John Malkovich, and Gloria Reuben.

The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights (www.rfkcenter.org), is a nonprofit dedicated to Robert F. Kennedy’s vision of creating a more peaceful and just world. For almost 40 years the RFK Center has worked to advance the human rights movement through partnering with courageous grassroots defenders from around the world who have won the RFK Human Rights Award, some of whom are featured in SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER, and supporting exceptional authors and journalists whose work brings light to injustice through the RFK Book and Journalism Awards.

Source: The RFK Center for Justice & Human Rights (www.rfkcenter.org)