Dear Friends,

We invite you to join NRCAT and the Interfaith Working Group on Drone Warfare for a webinar on Drone Warfare: Mobilizing for Change on Wednesday, February 1 at 10am EST. Panelists include Elizabeth Beavers, the Vice President of the NRCAT Board of Directors. Elizabeth will join Adotei Akwei of Amnesty International USA and Kevi Snow of the Friends Committee on Legislation for a 45 minute panel discussion, followed by a 30 minute Q&A session. Register for the webinar.

In the third and final webinar of this series, panelists will focus on putting knowledge into action, providing tactics for how to raise ethical questions and how to advocate for changes to drone warfare policies. In the first webinar we focused on the human costs of drone strikes, including effects on countries where strikes occur and the implications for U.S. military service members. The second webinar focused on the ethical, legal, and theological considerations raised by the expanded and regularized use of drone warfare in various arenas. In this webinar, panelists will discuss the faith community’s ongoing advocacy efforts in D.C., opportunities for grassroots organizing and advocacy, and practical tips for getting engaged on this issue.

Panelist Bios:

Adotei Akwei:
Adotei Akwei currently serves as the Interim Chief Collaboration Officer for Amnesty International USA. He is a political analyst, an experienced advocate, and campaigner on civil, political, economic and social rights, US foreign and security policy as well as a rights-based approach to ending poverty with field experience in Africa and Asia. He is a regular spokesperson for AIUSA for print, radio and television news outlets in the United States, Europe, and Africa such as the BBC, VOA, SABC, National Public Radio, the Pacifica Radio, CNN, Fox News, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, Financial Times, Washington Times, West Africa Magazine, Congressional Quarterly. He has also testified numerous times before both the House and the Senate. He has worked on national and international advocacy.

Elizabeth Beavers:
Elizabeth is a national security legal scholar and strategist for peace and security advocacy with expertise on national security law, anti-militarist foreign policy, and progressive advocacy. She is a Senior Fellow with Data For Progress and Vice President of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture’s board of directors. Prior to becoming an independent consultant, Elizabeth served as Associate Policy Director for the Indivisible Project, leading the organization’s advocacy efforts on foreign policy, national security, democracy, and human rights. Before that, Elizabeth was the Senior Campaigner on national security and human rights for the U.S. section of Amnesty International, where she worked to reform the U.S. government’s national security policies in line with international human rights standards. Elizabeth also managed the Militarism & Civil Liberties program at the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Her analysis has been featured in outlets including The New York Times, USA Today, Politico, Reuters, and The Guardian.

Kevin Snow:
Kevin Snow serves as the program assistant for Militarism and Human Rights at the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Kevin lobbies for policy reforms connected to the war on terror, including congressional war powers, drone warfare, and government transparency. From 2021-2022, Kevin conducted research in Estonia on political activism. He has previously worked on several congressional campaigns.

I hope you will join me tomorrow for this timely webinar covering an important but often forgotten aspect of U.S. military policy that needs to change - register here.

Rev. Ron Stief
Executive Director