Abbey Koenning-Rutherford

Abbey Koenning-Rutherford is the 2023-2025 Aryeh Neier Fellow at Human Rights Watch. Abbey works in the US Program, where they are focusing on human rights violations against Indigenous communities within the US. Prior to joining Human Rights Watch, Abbey served as a legal intern at Natural Resource Defense Council, EarthRights International, Earthjustice, 50 Eggs Films, and Al Otro Lado. In their capacity as a legal intern, Abbey has researched and assisted in human rights efforts with Indigenous communities in Wisconsin, Arizona, North Carolina, California, Mexico, Iraq, Colombia, and during their undergraduate studies, Peru. During law school, conducted the legal research for a documentary centering the stories of water defenders against a multi-national oil and natural gas company. Prior to law school, Abbey worked as a paralegal at an immigration law firm.