Aileen is a founding partner at the Tea Leaf Center, a partnership of researchers and trainers with a shared mission and approach. The Tea Leaf Center promotes connected, empowered, ethical and accessible research by supporting local organizations in Southeast Asia to conduct their own research, and working to increase representation of local researchers in national, regional and global debates.
Aileen is constantly inspired by the young activists and researchers she has encountered throughout her career. She loves being a sounding board for new ideas, pushing back against international dominance over local agendas, and asking tough questions. Her background is in human rights, international law, transitional justice and peace and conflict. She researched and wrote reports on displacement in/from Myanmar and protests and the right to peaceful assembly with Progressive Voice, a participatory rights-based research and advocacy organization working on Myanmar. She spent five years with the International Center for Transitional Justice in various positions including as Head of Office in Myanmar and Nepal. With ICTJ, she trained civil society organizations and conducted research on reconciliation, transitional justice and victims’ groups and civil society advocacy for and participation in transitional justice. Aileen worked for the Public International Law and Policy Group, researching and writing legal memoranda on international law, peace agreements and comparative constitutional law. She has also done research and trainings for small human rights and political organizations on the Thai-Myanmar border, and has substantial experience in monitoring and evaluation. Aileen is qualified to practice law in New York, and attended American University where she got her law degree (J.D.) and a Master’s Degree in International Affairs from the School for International Service.
Aileen Thomson 