Sarah Leah Whitson

Sarah Leah Whitson is an American human rights lawyer. From 2020 to 2026 she served as founding executive director of Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN). From 2004 to 2020 she was director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch. While with Goldman Sachs from 1997 to 2004 she also served as general counsel to the Center for Economic and Social Rights and engaged in other advocacy work. She is co-author of From Apartheid to Democracy: A Blueprint for Peace in Israel-Palestine, published in 2025.