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Anne Nelson's career encompasses international affairs, journalism and human rights. As a reporter, she covered wars in El Salvador and Guatemala in the early 1980's, at the height of the death squad period, and was published regularly in The Los Angeles Times, Maclean's and The Christian Science Monitor.                     

For four years, she served as the director of the New York based Committee to Protect Journalists. While at CPI, she co-founded the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (www.ifex.org). Since 1995, she has directed the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism's international program. She currently oversees students from 24 countries. In this capacity, she developed the first journalism school curriculum in human rights reporting. She also helped establish the first interdisciplinary university website on human rights -

 www.humanrights.columbia.edu

Nelson has traveled as a consultant on journalism development, visiting countries including Hungary, Romania, Cambodia, China, Spain and Argentina. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, she is a regular international affairs commentator on the syndicated television program "The Editors." 

She wrote the play The Guys over the course of a week in October 2001, based on an experience she had shortly after September 11th. It opened on December 4th, 2001 and had been presented across the United States and in several international productions. The play was published by Random House and a Japanese translation was issued in September. On September 11th, 2002, she made the play available at no charge for non-profit performances across the country as part of memorial services. She has worked with the New York Fire Department medical office to establish the Flanagan Fund, which has begun to channel contributions from regional productions to support programs on behalf of working NYC firefighter and their families. She also wrote the screenplay for the Focus Features motion picture, also directed by Jim Simpson.  The Stillwater, Oklahoma native graduated from Yale University and lives in New York with her husband and two children.