East Timor Action Network Speaker Roster

Each of the individuals listed below can be contacted to speak at public events, schools, universities, meetings and to peace and justice groups or other interested organizations. Honorarium and compensation for travel expenses should be arranged with each speaker individually.

Please let us know about any speaking events you set up so that we can keep track of East Timor-related activity around the country and help publicize the event to other interested people in your region. It's also helpful if you can inform us when you've issued invitations to speakers from outside your local area.

We can be reached at 718-596-7668, e-mail etan@etan.org.. Please don't hesitate to contact us with questions, problems, or requests for more information!

Pamela Sexton Watsonville CA, 831-724-8051, pam@etan.org
Pam is a public school teacher who studied and taught in Indonesia in the early 90s, and has been active with ETAN since then. During 1999 she made three trips to East Timor first with an exploratory team for Peace Brigades International, then as an IFET Observer (in Suai), and later to assess needs for Grassroots International. From May through August 1999, she coordinated the recruitment and training of 40 IFET referendum observers from the U.S. From 2000-2002, Pam lived and worked in East Timor, where she helped to establish La'o Hamutuk (The East Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis) as one of its first staff members. She has spent time in both West Papua and Aceh, areas of severe Indonesian military repression. She is currently a board member for ETAN and La'o Hamutuk.

Ben Terrall San Francisco, CA 510-647-3702, bterrall@igc.org
In early September 1999, Ben returned from his second trip to East Timor, where he was part of the IFET Observer Project. Two years earlier, Ben founded the East Timor Relief Fund, which distributes U.S. contributions to East Timorese individuals and organizations. His articles on East Timor and Indonesia have appeared in Indonesia Alert!, Counterpunch, In These Times, The Progressive, and the Christian Science Monitor; since 1996 he has been co-editor of ETAN's newsletter Estafeta. Ben coordinated a major book drive for the People's Library of East Timor and the University of East Timor, and is continuing to support educational initiatives in East Timor. He coordinates ETAN/SF.

Sue Severin San Francisco, CA 415-453-5810 (h), 415-507-2564 (w), sseverin@igc.org
Sue was one of two electoral officers for the IFET Observer Project. She also observered East Timor's elections in 2007 with the Solidarity Observer Mission for East Timor (SOMET) In addition to her work in East Timor, she has experience observing elections in El Salvador, Southern Mexico (Chiapas and Guerrero), and most recently in Haiti. Sue has slides from her time in East Timor. In addition to presentations for general audiences, she is available for Spanish language presentations and presentations to young people.

Garrick Ruiz Los Angeles, CA 626-284-7116, grok@riseup.net
Garrick spent over two months in East Timor in 1999 as a field coordinator of the IFET Observer Project. He's a graduate of University of California, Los Angeles where he studied American literature. Garrick has been involved with the East Timor Action Network since 1996 and spoke on a nationwide tour with East Timorese activist Luciano Valentin da Conceicao. In addition to work with the ETAN, he is a volunteer youth organizer with Youth Organizing Communities in Los Angeles. Garrick recently volunteered for several months with the International Solidarity Movement on the West Bank and Gaza.

Lisa Rosen Los Angeles, CA 323-653-6284, lisarosen@aol.com
Lisa has been a member of the ETAN/LA chapter since 1998. In 1999 she went to East Timor as part of the IFET Observer Project, to monitor the referendum.

Mark Rhomberg Los Angeles, CA 310-207-5600, work4whirledpeas@earthlink.net
Mark, an ETAN activist since 1993, is a high school social studies teacher. He first visited East Timor in Nov./Dec. 1998, and then returned in June/July 1999 as a logistics coordinator for IFET-OP. He returned to East Timor in July 2002 to monitor its progress. In 2007 he was a SOMET election observer for the Parliamentary election. He has compiled an outstanding slide show of his travels throughout East Timor.

Kristin Sundell Baltimore, MD, kristin@etan.org
Kristin Sundell first traveled to East Timor in August 1998, three months after the fall of the Indonesian dictator Suharto. While there she witnessed the beginnings of the first "above-ground" independence movement in East Timor since the Indonesian invasion in 1975. One year later, Kristin traveled to East Timor for a second time to serve as a UN-accredited observer for the vote on independence. As an International Federation for East Timor (IFET) observer in the town of Same, she witnessed the effects of the Indonesian military-backed violence against supporters of independence there. Kristin currently works with both the ETAN.

Primary New York Contact (please inform John of all New York events so he can help publicize & coordinate):

John M. Miller Brooklyn, NY 718-596-7668, john@etan.org
John M. Miller co-founded ETAN in 1991. He is ETAN's National Coordinator and has been on staff since late 1996. In addition to coordinating ETAN's New York chapter, John directs the Foreign Bases Project. He is Treasurer of the War Resisters League, author of numerous articles and pamphlets, and editor and/or publisher for several newsletters and magazines. He served as staff for a Parliamentarians for East Timor observer mission to the 1999 referendum in East Timor and most recently visited East Timor in January 2003. John has appeared on CNN, CNBC, BBC, Canadian Broadcasting, Pacifica's Democracy Now! and a numerous other local radio programs.

Amy Goodman (contact John M. Miller, 718-596-7668)
Amy Goodman is a radio journalist and host of the nationally broadcast Pacifica Radio program "Democracy Now!" A survivor of the 1991 Santa Cruz massacre in East Timor, she was deported from Indonesia in 1999 while attempting to cover the United Nations-run consultation in East Timor. She describes her experiences in East Timor in her book The Exception to the Rulers.

Joseph Nevins Poughkeepsie, NY 845-437-7823 office, joe@etan.org
Joe is an associate professor of geography at Vassar College. He is the author of A Not-So-Distant Horror: Mass Violence in East Timor from Cornell University Press (2005). Under the pen name Matthew Jardine, he also wrote East Timor: Genocide in Paradise (Odonian Press and Common Courage Press, 1999, 2nd edition) and co-authored (with Constancio Pinto) East Timor's Unfinished Struggle: Inside the Timorese Resistance (South End Press, 1997). During 1999, he served as a United Nations-accredited international
observer for the referendum in the Indonesian-occupied territory. In 2000, he helped to found La'o Hamutuk, the Dili-based East Timor
Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis. Joe has made seven trips to East Timor since 1992.

Will Seaman Portland, OR 360-212-4029 (o) 503-235-4986 (h) 503-888-7455 (cell), wseaman@comcast.net
Will is a long time human rights activist who has been working on the issue of East Timor since the early 1980's. He is the coordinator of the East Timor Action Network Oregon, and spent 7 weeks in East Timor as logistics coordinator of the IFET observer project. He is available to speak within driving distance of Portland on weekdays and is able to travel farther for weekend speaking events.

Karen Orenstein, Washington, DC, karen@etan.org
Karen Orenstein is a former National Coordinator of ETAN and was on staff from July 1999 to July 2006. Through ETAN's grassroots network and direct lobbying, Karen worked to effect change in US foreign policy as it relates to East Timor, Indonesia, and human rights in general. In April 2000, she co-led a congressional delegation to investigate the conditions of East Timorese refugees in Indonesian West Timor. Prior to ETAN, Karen worked on a number of international human rights issues. She continues to advocate for Maasai rights in Tanzania and is involved with several Washington, DC area social service organizations.

Diane Farsetta Madison, WI 608-255-4598 (h), diane@etan.org
Diane has been the coordinator of the ETAN/Madison chapter since 1997, and led the effort to join Madison and Ainaro in the first U.S.-East Timor sister-city relationship, which was approved in 2001. Diane has visited East Timor several times, including as a United Nations-accredited observer of the 1999 referendum with IFET, and as part of sister-city delegations. She also served as ETAN's national field organizer from 2000 to 2003. Currently, Diane does research and reporting for the Center for Media and Democracy (www.prwatch.org), a media watchdog group, and volunteers at WORT 89.9 fm, a Pacifica.

Eric Piotrowski Madison, WI (608) 244-4563, eric@etan.org
Eric Piotroswki has been a member of the East Timor Action Network since 1996. In 1998 he helped start ETAN/Florida. A secondary school English teacher by day, In 1999 he served as Assistant U.S. Coordinator for the IFET Observer Project. He designed the websites of IFET and La'o Hamutuk. Eric traveled to East Timor in 2005 with the Madison-Ainaro Sister City Alliance (MASA). In his spare time, Eric works with Amnesty International, the Labor Party, and various independent music and literature organizations.

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East Timor & Indonesia Action Network Speaker Roster

**East Timor & Indonesia Action Network Speaker Roster**