Abigail E. Abrash Walton (MSc)

Assistant to the President for Sustainability/Social Justice
President
Director, Center for Academic Innovation

AUNE Contact Information

603-283-2344

aabrash@antioch.edu

Highest Degree

MSc, London School of Economics

Other Degrees & Credentials

Visiting Fellow, Harvard Law School
BA, University of Pennsylvania

Areas of Expertise

advocacy, public policy, community development, sustainability and social/environmental justice, organizational leadership/management

Overview

Abigail received a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.Sc. in Political Theory from the London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Government.

“A key goal of advocacy is to be able to achieve purposeful results for people who are not in the public debate. Our students will become advocates who participate in the social justice and resource conservation and management decisions that directly affect their lives and the lives of others. We train them to have the analytical skills to assess a situation and develop a strategy for identifying and achieving concrete outcomes as well as the skills to implement that strategy effectively. I teach by example, and try to instill in my students the confidence that they can successfully create purposeful results and maintain the energy to do that in a sustained way.”

My interest is in exploring and making connections between human rights and environmental concerns, and in advancing our collective understanding that successfully addressing these challenges is fundamental both to sustainable development and to basic requirements of peace and justice.

Current Activities

In addition to teaching at Antioch New England, Abigail Abrash Walton, a resident of Keene, is principal and founder of ActionWorks, a public interest consulting firm. Her past positions include service as program director for New Hampshire Citizens Alliance, a statewide membership organization that advances social, economic and political justice issues, and as program director for the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights in Washington, D.C. Prior to moving to New Hampshire, Abigail was a Visiting Fellow at Harvard Law School's Human Rights Program. Abigail has served as a commentator on a variety of human rights issues for media outlets including The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, National Public Radio and "The News Hour with Jim Lehrer." She serves on the City of Keene's Planning Board and Cable TV Commission, and was appointed in June 2008 by NH Senate President Sylvia Larsen to serve as one of seven members of the state's Public Funding of Elections Commission. Abigail has served on the board of directors of the Papua-based Institute for Human Rights Study and Advocacy and of the Papua Resource Center. She was a founding board member of Project Underground, a human rights organization that supports communities resisting mining and oil exploitation.