Aaron Myers is the Director of Global and Rapid Response Programs. Mr. Myers oversees the technical and operational excellence of the Justice, Rights, and Security - Rapid Response Assitance (JURIS) program and leads the program’s consortium of strategic partners to respond to urgent justice, rights, and security challenges and windows of opportunity around the world. He has significant experience supporting frontline human rights defenders and civil society organizations with democracy, human rights, and governance programming in highly complex and closed environments.

Prior to joining DI, Mr. Myers was a Program Director at the National Democratic Institute overseeing Southeast Asia programs in Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. He was an ASEAN Fulbright Scholar in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia, where his research focused on supporting civil society in ASEAN to evaluate the performance of national human rights institutions. Mr. Myers also worked at Freedom House, where he led global rapid response programs supporting at-risk civil society organizations and human rights defenders in over 100 countries and territories to overcome threats, build resilience, and develop advocacy focused on creating enabling environments for civil society. He holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago and a BA in History and Political Science from the University of Iowa.