Stanford University

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  • Vivian Brates

    Vivian Brates

    Advanced Lecturer, Language Ctr

    BioVivian Brates is an Advanced Lecturer in the Stanford Language Center, where she teaches Spanish language and culture courses with a particular emphasis on community-engaged learning. Since 2011, she has designed and taught a portfolio of courses that integrate advanced language learning with issues of migration, access to health care, and human rights through long-term partnerships with community organizations.

    She believes that learning another language is ultimately about building understanding across cultures and seeing the world through other people's experiences and perspectives. In her community-engaged courses, students strengthen their language proficiency, intercultural competence, and communication skills by engaging directly with Spanish-speaking communities. Along the way, they gain a deeper understanding of the linguistic, cultural, and structural barriers that shape people's opportunities and experiences. Whether they pursue careers in medicine, law, education, engineering, business, research, or public service, her goal is to help students communicate thoughtfully across cultures and engage with others with empathy, humility, and respect.

    Over the years, her courses have partnered with organizations including the International Institute of the Bay Area, the CARA Pro Bono Project, Al Otro Lado, Freedom for Immigrants, One Life (Una Vida) Counseling Services, UG2 campus service workers at Stanford, Sequoia High School's Newcomer Program, and Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto (CLSEPA).

    Before joining Stanford, Vivian worked as a Human Rights Observer and Election Monitor with the United Nations and the Organization of American States in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Guatemala, and later as an advocate and lobbyist in Washington, D.C. Those experiences continue to shape her teaching and her commitment to connecting academic learning with meaningful community engagement.

    Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Vivian attended the University of Buenos Aires before earning an M.A. in Spanish and Latin American Literatures from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an M.A. in Latin American Studies with a concentration in Economic Development from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.

  • Jessica Brunner

    Jessica Brunner

    Senior Program Manager; Director of Human Trafficking Research, Center for Human Rights and International Justice

    BioJessie Brunner is proud to serve as Associate Director of Strategy and Program Development at the Center for Human Rights and International Justice at Stanford University. She is also the Center’s Director of Human Trafficking Research. In these roles, Jessie contributes to overall vision and strategy, and leads several of the Center's core research collaborations related to labor exploitation. Jessie is currently working on several multidisciplinary, community-engaged research projects, including enhancing contract and payment structures to combat forced labor in tuna fisheries and – as co-Principal Investigator of the Re:Structure Lab – investigating how supply chains and business models can be re-imagined to promote equitable labor standards and worker rights. She is also Director of Strategic Partnerships for the Stanford Human Trafficking Data Lab, guiding the Lab’s strategy and establishing key relationships and connections with the global anti-trafficking community. Much of this work focuses on policy engagement in Brazil and Southeast Asia, though Jessie remains active on these issues locally in San Diego and the Bay Area, as well as globally through various United Nations bodies. Her work is motivated by the desire to understand how these forms of abuse are linked to systemic inequities, and in turn, how policies can be designed to curb them while promoting fairness and justice. Jessie is further involved in projects related to trauma-informed human rights investigation and environmental justice. She has worked on human rights and post-conflict reconciliation in Argentina, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Cambodia, Chile, Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Rwanda, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

    Previously, Jessie served as a researcher at Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law’s Program on Human Rights; a Public Affairs Assistant at the State Department in the Bureau on Democracy, Human Rights and Labor; a reporter for Los Angeles Times Community News; and a non-profit public relations/marketing manager. She earned a Master’s in International Policy from Stanford University and a self-designed interdisciplinary Bachelor’s degree and Spanish minor from the University of California, Berkeley.

    In addition to her professional accomplishments, Jessie is a gratified mom, wife, daughter, sister, and friend who enjoys baking, cycling, and tree bathing.