Jerusha Burnham

Jerusha Burnham has nearly two decades of experience in human rights and human rights grantmaking. Prior to joining Freedom House, she spent six years at the Fund for Global Human Rights in Washington, DC, supporting grassroots organizations across East Africa and Latin America, including women's rights, LGBTI, land and environmental, refugee, indigenous, media, and democracy organizations.

Jerusha joined Freedom House's Emergency Assistance Program (EAP) in 2012 as a Latin America expert, serving initially as the Regional Specialist for the Latin America portfolio. She progressively advanced through various roles within EAP and became Director of the program in 2021. Since joining EAP, Jerusha has increased the program's engagement with land, indigenous, women's, and Afro-descendant movements.

Jerusha serves on the Board of Child Rights International Network (CRIN).

Born and raised in Mexico with familial roots spanning Mexico, Uganda, and the United States, Jerusha is currently based in Barcelona. She is a native Spanish and English speaker, fluent in Catalan and French, and has basic knowledge of German. Jerusha is proud to have studied at UC Santa Cruz and American University.