Johanna Chao Kreilick serves as special assistant in the Office of the President at the Open Society Foundations where she supports the development of cross-cutting strategies for the foundation, coordinates evaluations of major grantees, oversees the recruitment and work of recent professional-school graduates and junior Open Society staff rotating through the office of the president, and supports other substantive initiatives.
Prior to joining the Foundations, Kreilick managed the Justice and Human Rights domain of practice at the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University. In that position Kreilick connected justice and human rights NGOs from around the globe to resources at Harvard and beyond to strengthen the knowledge and networks connecting NGOs to each other, to key state officials and to international bodies. Projects included strategy sessions, executive seminars, and assessment projects which highlighted new directions, debates and promising practices on topics such as opportunities for NGO action in the context of new international justice mechanisms, strategies for protecting the rights of the working poor in the informal economy, collective approaches to NGO advocacy, and the mission impact of nonprofit brand.
Kreilick’s previous work in justice and human rights included community organizing, research-to-action policy projects, and international program development. She created and managed the economic justice program at UUSC, an international human rights organization linking members, NGOs, and civil society partners in 62 countries around the globe. She is a trained mediator and seasoned facilitator, and serves on numerous non-profit boards. She earned a BA with Distinction in Anthropology from Stanford University and an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government where she was named a Lucius N. Littauer Fellow in 2005.