Tom Malinowski

Tom Malinowski served two terms in the House of Representatives, after winning election in 2018 in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District. He was Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, focusing on issues ranging from national security and the war in Ukraine, to infrastructure, clean energy, social media regulation and combatting domestic extremism. 
 
Malinowski was born in communist Poland during the height of the Cold War, and emigrated with his mother to the United States when he was six years old. From 1994 to 2001, Malinowski served as a speechwriter for Secretaries of State Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright, and as a Senior Director on President Clinton’s National Security Council. As chief Washington advocate for Human Rights Watch, he worked to secure America’s support for people struggling for democracy around the world, and to end its use of torture after the 9/11 attacks. He later served as President Obama’s Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, leading America’s global efforts to promote human rights. Malinowski received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley and earned a Master of Philosophy from St. Anthony’s College, Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. 

Malinowski was appointed to serve as a Member of the RFE/RL Board of Directors on March 10, 2023.