WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 27, 2026) – The McCain Institute at Arizona State University welcomes Amy O’Neill Richard as its new senior director for the Human Rights & Freedom program. Richard brings more than three decades of State Department experience advancing human rights, combating human trafficking, and countering transnational organized crime.
A founding member of the Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office), Richard helped establish the office, institutionalize anti-trafficking polices, and foster the growth of the global anti-trafficking movement. She furthered diplomatic, multilateral, research, and public engagement initiatives in every region of the world and across the United States. Prior to the TIP Office, she worked in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research where she established the transnational organized crime portfolio and authored the intelligence community’s first report on human trafficking, informing landmark U.S. legislation. Richard earned her Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Richmond.
“Amy has served multiple Republican and Democratic administrations and played an integral part in the anti-trafficking movement for the last 25 years, so I know she is fully equipped to lead the McCain Institute’s human rights programs into the next decade,” said McCain Institute Chief Program Officer Ambassador Cindy Dyer.
“I am excited and honored to join the impressive McCain Institute team and dedicate all my energies towards furthering its ideals of working towards a safe, free, and just world for all people,” said McCain Institute Senior Director for Human Rights and Freedom Amy O’Neill Richard.
To view Amy O’Neill Richard’s full biography, click HERE or continue reading below.
Amy O’Neill Richard Biography:
Amy O’Neill Richard is an international human trafficking expert with more than three decades of State Department experience shaping foreign policy, advancing human rights, and countering transnational organized crime. Ms. Richard currently serves as the senior director for Human Rights & Freedom at the McCain Institute leading programs and partnerships centered on protecting and advancing individual human rights and freedom around the world.
From 2001-2025, she worked in the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. She helped establish the office and guide U.S. and global anti-trafficking policy, initiatives, and taskforces through engagement with governments, non-governmental organizations, survivor leaders, and the private sector in every global region and across the United States. She led teams that produced the Trafficking in Persons Report and advanced public diplomacy. Richard has forged multi-stakeholder partnerships and fact-finding missions; co-chaired the U.S. Government Committee on Research and Data; organized action-oriented events at the White House, United Nations, World Bank, and OSCE; and developed and delivered anti-trafficking trainings for Ambassadors, foreign service officers, and acquisitions personnel.
From 1991-2000, Richard worked in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) in the Office of African Affairs and Office of Terrorism, Narcotics and Crime. She established and managed the transnational organized crime portfolio and conducted research globally on human trafficking. Her own research findings were covered in major media outlets and informed landmark U.S. legislation as well as earned her many State Department awards. She received her Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Richmond.
Learn more about the McCain Institute’s Human Rights & Freedom program HERE.