Betsy Popken
Co-Executive Director
Betsy Popken serves as the Co-Executive Director of the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley School of Law. Previously, Betsy co-founded and co-led the Business & Human Rights practice at the law firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, and helped launch the firm’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practice. While Betsy’s practice as Sustainability & Human Rights Counsel at Orrick spanned sectors, she had a particular passion for helping clients tackle human rights issues raised by emerging technologies. She served on the World Economic Forum’s Steering Committee for the Responsible Use of Technology and published articles such as “Human Rights By Design Approach Can Guide Companies Developing Digital Contact Tracing Technology” in Corporate Counsel and “Tech and Black Lives–Firms Can Mitigate Discrimination in Tech” in Bloomberg Law. Betsy worked on United Nations-mediated peace and ceasefire negotiations in Darfur, Syria, and Yemen through the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG). She led PILPG’s work with the Syrian opposition negotiation team, funded by the U.S. State Department, U.K. Foreign & Commonwealth Office, and Global Affairs Canada. Betsy also founded and led PILPG’s Istanbul office in 2015-2016, and worked at this time throughout the Middle East and at the Palace of Nations in Geneva. She currently serves as a Senior Peace Fellow for PILPG. Betsy previously taught negotiations at Stanford Law School, drawing from her experience in these real-world negotiations. Betsy is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and previously worked for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Pacific Council on International Policy.