(CHIANG MAI, April 29, 2025)—On April 29, 2025, Chiang Mai University’s School of Public Policy selected Fortify Rights Senior Advocacy Specialist Patrick Phongsathorn to join as a Senior Research Fellow. The year-long appointment recognized Patrick’s “contributions to the fields of human rights and public advocacy.” As a Senior Research Fellow, Patrick will support the School of Public Policy’s ongoing research, policy analysis and teaching. Patrick will also deliver occasional guest lectures and share practical insights from his professional experience.
Patrick Phongsathorn is a human rights lawyer who joined Fortify Rights in 2019. He previously worked with the International Organization for Migration in Timor-Leste, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Lebanon, and the Khon Thai Foundation in Thailand. Patrick holds a Graduate Diploma in Law from the University of Law in the U.K., an M.A. in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action from Sciences Po in Paris, and a B.A. in Politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. As a senior advocacy specialist at Fortify Rights, Patrick strategically engages government officials, UN representatives, the diplomatic community, and the media with Fortify Rights’s evidence-based research.
In April 2022, the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) selected Patrick to serve as a mentor in its YSEALI Women’s Leadership Academy 2022 Mentorship Programme. The YSEALI Women’s Leadership Academy brings together 44 young Southeast Asian women leaders between the ages of 20 and 35. Through this eight-month program, Patrick mentored a young Vietnamese woman human rights defender to advance her leadership skills and ability to set goals, define objectives, and develop action plans. The program consists of a series of leadership labs, panel discussions, break-out sessions, and mentoring and networking opportunities with leaders from the region and the United States.