Keynote Speakers

Chen Guangcheng, known as the “Barefoot Lawyer,” is a blind, self-taught legal advocate who has spent more than 25 years defending human rights in China. His work on behalf of people with disabilities, rural communities, and women subjected to forced abortions and sterilizations under China’s one-child policy led to imprisonment and years of house arrest. In 2012, he escaped confinement and sought refuge at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing before traveling to the United States. Chen is a Distinguished Fellow at The Catholic University of America’s Center for Human Rights and the author of the 2015 memoir The Barefoot Lawyer: A Blind Man’s Fight for Justice and Freedom in China.

William L. Saunders, J.D., is a Harvard Law School graduate with more than 30 years of experience in public policy, law, ethics, and human rights. He directs the Center for Human Rights and the Program in Human Rights at The Catholic University of America, where he works closely with Chen Guangcheng. Saunders has written and lectured extensively on human rights, bioethics, and Catholic social teaching. His 2019 book is Unborn Human Life and Fundamental Rights: Leading Constitutional Cases Under Scrutiny.