Diann Rust-Tierney is a national legal and legislative policy advocate with more than 40 years of experience developing, coordinating, and implementing policy and culture change to advance civil and human rights. She has led efforts to develop a coordinated state and federal strategy to reduce support for and end capital punishment in the US. Her work against capital punishment and writing and presentations highlight the historical connections between the institution of slavery, the racial caste system that supported it and continues today, gender bias, and the imperative for economic justice, education, health, and safety policies that support families and communities. At Georgetown, she teaches “Human Rights Advocacy: Lessons from the Campaign to End the Death Penalty and Other Human Rights Campaigns.”

She is the former Executive Director of the Racial Justice Institute. She was the Robert F. Drinan, S.J., Chair in Human Rights at Georgetown University Law Center for the Academic Year 2021-2022. For 16 years, she served as Executive Director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Prior to joining the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Ms. Rust-Tierney served as Chief Legislative Counsel and Associate Director of the American Civil Liberties Union Washington Office.

Rust-Tierney holds a JD from the University of Maryland School of Law and a BA from the College of Wooster. Rust-Tierney has been a proud member of SAG-AFTRA since 2001 and has appeared in television, film, theatre, and commercial projects.