Mark Hanis

2006

Mark Hanis

Genocide Intervention Network

http://www.genocideintervention.net

Washington D.C., United States

Non-Violence

The Bold Idea:

Mark Hanis founded the Genocide Intervention Network (GI-Net) to provide ordinary citizens with tools to prevent and stop genocide. GI-Net will change the way the United States and the international community respond to the world’s worst crime. GI-Net’s aim is to recruit a committed and diverse group of individuals and communities to form an active network that realizes the “never” in “never again.” GI-Net members educate their communities, lobby their elected officials, and fundraise directly for civilian protection. Currently, their work is focused on ending the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Sudan, where more than 300,000 people have been killed and over 2 million have been displaced; providing material support for African Union peacekeepers in the region; and organizing political action campaigns for a more robust civilian protection force.

Biography:

Mark Hanis is the President of Genocide Intervention Network/Save Darfur Coalition (GI-NET/SDC), recently merged to create a powerful voice dedicated to preventing and stopping large-scale, deliberate atrocities against civilians.

GI-NET/SDC is the largest anti-genocide organization, boasting a supporter base of over one million committed activists globally, an unparalleled nationwide student movement, and a network of institutional investors totaling over 700 billion assets under management.

As a grandchild of four Holocaust survivors, Mark has a deep understanding of individual persecution and of hope and opportunity. Outraged by the international community’s inaction when the Darfur conflict began, Mark began on a journey that still continues today.

Over a half-century ago, the international community pledged to “never again” allow genocide to occur. Repeated failure to keep that promise (in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and most recently in Darfur) sparked Mark Hanis, along with cofounder Sam Bell, to create the Genocide Intervention Network. Now united with the Save Darfur Coalition, the merged organization harnesses the power of its constituencies to influence actors--primarily the American government, multi-national institutions and corporations – to use their diplomatic and financial leverage to help prevent and stop large-scale atrocities.

Several events in Mark’s life put him on a course of anti-genocide activism, including work with Colombian asylum seekers and torture victims. Mark also spent seven months in Sierra Leone at the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), during which time he worked alongside many refugees which opened his eyes further to the conditions of the underclass.

Mark has been honored with Ashoka, Echoing Green and Draper Richards Fellowships and is a 2009 World Economic Forum Global Leader. Mark and Genocide Intervention Network have been featured in the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor and The New Republic, and Mark has appeared on a number of media outlets, including CNN Headline News, NBC, MSNBC and NPR.

Mark gives presentations on a range of topics, including: Genocide Past and Present, Darfur/Sudan and emerging conflicts, and Grassroots Activism.


Moment of Obligation: Why did you want to create your new organization?
Growing up in a small Jewish community as a grandchild of Holocaust survivors, I was always reminded that I wanted to make "Never Again" a commitment to keep, not just an empty promise.

Gall to Think Big: What has given you the ability to take on deeply entrenched social problems?
By asking really simple questions. After hearing about the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, I asked "What can I do to help?" By finding the answers and realizing them, I knew it is possible to stop the world's worst crime.

New and Untested: Describe what's innovative about your new work.
We focus on Samantha Power's (author of A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide) 3Ps to prevent and stop genocide. Protection: We are providing an unprecedented avenue for citizens to directly support the greatest need in genocide - civilian protection. Never before have ordinary citizens supported a peacekeeping mission. Political Will: Using the tested and true techniques of other single issue campaigns, GI-Net is translating people's concern into effective political action. We must pressure our government to fulfill its responsibility to protect. Permanent: Recognizing that Darfur is not the first nor will it be the last genocide, GI-Net is creating the first permanent anti-genocide constituency. That way we can eventually shift from a culture of reaction to one of prevention.

Seeing Possibilities: What do you believe are the most important qualities to do social change work?
Perseverance, a positive attitude, and humility.

Which musical artists/albums get you going?
Tupac, Tracy Chapman, Juan Luis Guerra, and Arrested Development.

What books do you recommend (pleasure, work, and anything in between)?
The Responsibility to Protect: Report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Responsibility, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch, Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity by Dinah Shelton, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland by Christopher R. Browning, Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda by Romeo Dallaire, Night by Elie Wiesel, The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas by David Bornstein, and Better Together: Restoring the American Community by Robert D. Putnam and Lewis M. Feldstein.

Which websites do you visit often (work and/or personal)?

• nytimes.com
• slate.com
• crisisgroup.org
• hrw.org
• amnesty.org
• google.com

Any last words, thoughts or advice to other social change leaders?
Get political. Large-scale social change will only happen if you seriously engage with the government. George Orwell wrote, "In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics.' "