ISHR is releasing the 2026 HRAP Impact Survey Report. With the program approaching its 40th anniversary in 2029, ISHR commissioned a survey of HRAP alumni. The alumni who answered shared their feedback on the program, detailed the impact it has had on their personal and professional development, and contributed to an alumni wish list for the program's future. The report is available here.
ISHR is grateful to Brooke Audra Blackburn, a master's student in the Anthropology Department at Columbia University, for the work she did this summer to produce the report and Dr. Martin Hill, PhD, Associate Director of Research and Evaluation, of the Heartland Alliance Marjorie Kovler Center for his contributions to designing the survey as well as his copy editing of the final report.
We are also grateful to the HRAP alumni who took time out of their busy schedules to respond to the survey. We were heartened to hear from alumni like 1999 Advocate Taima Al Jayoush who shared: "Twenty seven years ago, HRAP accepted the application of a young lawyer from Syria who had a deep passion for human rights and an eagerness to learn how international human rights conventions and treaties could be used to defend and advance those rights. That acceptance opened doors to knowledge, skills, ideas, and experiences that I could never have imagined. It also introduced me to mentors, colleagues, and lifelong friends who have profoundly influenced and shaped my professional journey. Looking back, I believe that if the purpose of HRAP is to educate, empower, and inspire advocates to protect and advance human rights, then the program has accomplished something truly remarkable. Its impact extends far beyond the classroom, actually it lives on through the work of the advocates it has trained and the people whose lives they have touched."
