Executive Compensation at Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch (HRW) is a non-profit tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) based out of New York City. Dedicated to protecting human rights around the world, HRW investigates human rights abuses, exposes the facts of the investigations, and presses for changes. As such, HRW is a staff intensive organization (318 employees in 2018) whose employees were compensated $48 million, which equates to an average compensation of $151,000. However, only 98 employees received more than $100,000 in compensation.

The 25 most highly compensated employees were:

• $630,309:  Kenneth Roth, Executive Director
• $411,763:  Michele Alexander, Deputy Executive Director
• $405,591:  Nicholas Dawes, Deputy Executive Director
• $387,704:  Iain Levine, Deputy Executive Director
• $345,174:  Charles Lustig, Deputy Executive Director
• $336,626:  Bruno Stagno Ugarte, Deputy Executive Director
• $286,432:  Joseph Saunders, Deputy Program Director
• $286,209:  Barbara Pirto, Finance Director
• $262,372:  Jose Miguel Vivanco, Director
• $262,279:  Walid Ayoub, Chief Info Technology
• $262,139:  Dinah Pokempner, General Counsel
• $258,621:  Babatunde Olugboji, Deputy Program Director
• $256,429:  James Ross, Legal and Policy Director
• $254,474:  Brad Adams, Director
• $249,018:  Tom Porteous, Deputy Program Director
• $247,896:  Sarah Leah Whitson, Director
• $247,394:  Richard Dicker, Director
• $243,450:  Miriam Mahlow, Managing Director
• $230,492:  Stephen Northfield, Digital Director
• $227,483:  Liesl Gerntholtz, Deputy Executive Director
• $220,559:  Emma S Daly, Communication Director
• $207,297:  Zama Neff, Director
• $189,031:  Aisling M Reidy, Senior Legal Advisor
• $187,817:  Liba T Beyer, Director, Campaigns and Outreach
• $180,014:  Mitchell A Make, Global Controller

The 25 most highly compensated employees received a total of $7.1 million, which equates to an average of $284,000.  15 of the 25 (60%) most highly compensated employees are male while 10 (or 40%) are female.  Of the 10 most highly compensated employees, 8 are male while 2 are female.

If total employees (318) and compensation ($48 million) is adjusted to exclude the 25 most highly compensated employees, then 293 employees were compensated $41 million, which equates to an average compensation of $140,000.

14 independent contractors received more than $100,000 in compensation. The five most highly compensated independent contractors were:

• $2,121,333:  The Harrington Agency of Seawell, New Jersey for professional fundraising
• $  527,954:  Beaconfire Red Engine of Arlington, Virginia for professional fundraising
• $  391,465:  Smart IMS, Inc. of Plainsboro Township, New Jersey for IT consulting
• $  302,707:  Sunguard Availability Services of Long Island City, New York for IT solutions
• $  289,415:  Cisco Systems Capital Corporation of New York, New York for IT Network Solutions

To read the IRS Form 990 (2017 for the year ending June 30, 2018), click here.