Selection Committee

Barbara Chester Award recipients are determined by vote of the Selection Committee. Selection Committee members have demonstrated substantial lifetime commitment to the field of human rights, and many have worked specifically with survivors of political torture.

Juan Almendares, MD
Executive Director, Center for the Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Alp Ayan, MD
Consultant Psychiatrist & Psychotherapist of the Turkish Human Right Foundation, Izmir, Turkey

Martha Blue, JD
Formerly General Counsel to the Havasupai Tribe, former legal counsel to members of the Hualapai, Navajo, and Hopi tribes, Flagstaff, Arizona

Esad Boskailo

Survivor and now working as an attending Psychiatrist in the Phoenix area

Jorge Cabrera, MSW, ACSW
Field Office Director, Casey Family Programs, and Board of Directors, Survivors of Torture International, San Diego, California

Shari Eppel
2000 BCA Recipient, Solidarity Peace Trust, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Mary R. Fabri, PsyD

2009 BCA Recipient, Senior Director (Formerly Executive Director), Heartland Alliance Marjorie Kovler Center, Chicago, Illinois

Abby Hungwe

From Zimbabwe and now the Managing Director at Owl and Panther, in Tucson AZ

James M. Jaranson, MD, MA, MPH Senior
Clinical Advisory Group, International Rehabilitation Council for Victims of Torture, Copenhagen, Denmark; Vice President, Board of Directors, Survivors of Torture, International, San Diego, California; Formerly Medical Director, Center For Victims of Torture, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Allen S. Keller, MD
2003 BCA Recipient, Director, Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, Associate Professor of Medicine, NYU School of Medicine, New York, New York

Joanne Kittel, MSW

Psychiatric Social Worker (ret). Has worked for many years in the field of trauma with survivors and perpetrators. Yachats, Oregon

Diana Kordon

2016 BCA Recipient, Coordinator of the Argentine Team of Psychological Work and Research, Argentina

Aryeh Levenson, MD
Staff Psychiatrist, South Central Foundation, Anchorage, Alaska

Marianna Neil, MA

Formerly Director of Social Services, Task Force on Central America and Family Outreach, Center for the Prevention and Resolution of Violence, Tucson, Arizona

Craig M. Oettinger, PhD
Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Houston, Clear Lake, Texas

Lucy E. Wilson, PhD

Clinical Psychologist. Formerly with Center for the Prevention and Resolution of Violence, Tucson, Arizona