STAFFAnuradha Mittal, Executive Director
Anuradha Mittal is an internationally renowned expert on trade, development, human rights, and agriculture issues. After working as the codirector of Food First/ Institute for Food and Development Policy, Mittal established the Oakland Institute, a progressive policy think tank, in 2004. Mittal is the author and editor of numerous articles and books including America Needs Human Rights; The Future in the Balance: Essays on Globalization and Resistance; Sahel: A Prisoner of Starvation; and most recently of Voices from Africa: African Farmers and Environmentalists Speak out Against a New Green Revolution;and The Great Land Grab: Rush for World’s Farmland Threatens Food Security for the Poor . Her articles and opinion pieces have been published in widely circulated newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Bangkok Post, Houston Chronicle, and the Nation. Anuradha has given several hundred keynote addresses including invitational events from governments and universities, and has appeared on television and radio shows around the world. Named as the 2008 Most Valuable Progressive Thinker by the Nation magazine, Anuradha was awarded the 2007 Global Citizen Award by the UNA-USA East Bay and KPFA Peace Award in 2006. She is on the board and advisory committees of several non profit organizations including the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the Alternative Nobel Prize) and is a member of the independent board of Ben & Jerry's which focuses on providing leadership for Ben & Jerry’s social mission and brand integrity. Anuradha lives in Oakland and can be reached at amittal Related Links:
Melissa Moore, Research and Outreach Coordinator
Melissa Moore graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with High Honors in Latin American Studies. A native Spanish speaker, Melissa lived and studied in Brazil, and speaks Portuguese fluently. Her experience includes analyzing land tenure, access to productive resources, and development schemes in various international contexts. Melissa has worked closely with peasant movements including the Brazilian Landless Workers' Movement (MST), and has worked on cases of peasant assassinations that have gone to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Melissa has also worked with grassroots groups organizing around land reform, natural resource sovereignty, human rights, and U.S. foreign policy. Melissa's techie work has involved creating and designing websites for several non-profit and international solidarity organizations. She is currently a project editor at Ten Speed Press. |