Archive
07 Jan Sam Gregory
| WITNESS Sam Gregory, Executive Director Sam Gregory is a human rights advocate and technologist fighting on the front lines against deepfakes and deceptive AI, and supporting human rights defenders to use video and technology in defense of truth and fact. He drives cutting-edge approaches to preserve trust, authenticity, and evidence in our increasingly complex digital landscape. A recognized authority on audiovisual communication and deception, and on the use of video and technology to advance human rights, he has testified before both the US House and Senate on AI and media transparency and is a TED speaker and frequent keynote speaker who outlines the necessary steps to fight back against malicious and deceptive AI. In 2025, Sam was the Gruber Distinguished Lecturer in International Justice at Yale Law School on “Fortifying Truth, Trust and Evidence in the Face of Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology.” Sam has over 25 years of global experience innovating and leading interventions at the intersections of video, technology, and human rights. As Executive Director of WITNESS, he spearheads our strategic plan to "Fortify the Truth," championing a global team supporting millions to use video and technology for human rights, and with a proactive focus on shaping and adapting
07 Jan Gael García Bernal
| WITNESS Gael García Bernal An actor nearly all his life, Gael García Bernal began performing in stage productions with his parents in Mexico, and made his major feature film debut in Alejandro Gonzalez´s Amores Perros, which was nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar in 2000. He has gone on to star in more than 17 movies and has continued to perform in plays in Mexico, England and beyond. García Bernal made his directorial debut with Deficit, a low-budget feature film shot in Mexico and has directed several short films since then, including The Invisibles for Amnesty International. He has also produced films, including Michael Rowe’s The Well, El Ardor and the documentary Who is Dayani Cristal? In 2005 he founded the film production company Canana with Diego Luna and Pablo Cruz. They have produced many films including the critically acclaimed Sin Nombre. Together, they also run the Ambulante documentary film festival that travels extensively around Mexico and is branching out to other Latin American countries. García Bernal is a committed supporter of human rights causes and has long supported WITNESS including as a co-host for our 2006 Focus For Change Benefit.
06 Jan Abigail Disney
| Abigail Disney Abigail Disney is a filmmaker and philanthropist. Her longtime passion for women’s issues and peacebuilding culminated in her first film, Pray the Devil Back to Hell. Abigail created the groundbreaking PBS mini-series Women, War & Peace, the most comprehensive global media initiative ever mounted on the role of women in peace and conflict. She has played a role in many film projects and is currently at work on a film highlighting the key role of women in the Arab Awakening, as well as taking her first stab at directing on a feature-length documentary about the gun culture in America. She founded the Daphne Foundation, Peace is Loud, and with 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee, co-founded the Gbowee Peace Foundation USA.