Speakers Bureau
APN offers expert speakers on the variety of issues we address. To book one of the following
speakers, please send us an email at apndc@peacenow.org (for campus events: apnoncampus@peacenow.org) or call us at (202)
408-9898.
Debra DeLee
Former President and CEO
Since joining APN in April 1997, Debra DeLee has worked tirelessly to promote American support
for peace in the Middle East. Debra has traveled to the Middle East on numerous occasions on behalf of APN and
discussed peace process issues with various Israeli and Arab leaders, including heads of state. Prior to joining
APN, Debra was selected by President Clinton to serve as Chief Executive Officer of the 1996 Democratic National
Convention, held in Chicago. In 1993, she served as Executive Director of the Democratic National Committee
(DNC) and was appointed DNC Chair by President Clinton in November 1994. Preceding this, Debra served as the
Director of Government Relations for the National Education Association, serving as its Chief Lobbyist and the
Director of the NEA Political Action Committee, the third largest political action committee in the country at
that time. Debra also served as the Special Assistant to former Senator Bob Graham during his first term as
Florida Governor in the late 1970's.
Debra Shushan
Director of Policy and Government Relations
Debra Shushan is a seasoned expert on the Middle East. She comes to us from the College of
William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, where she specialized in the politics of the Middle East and the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an Assistant Professor of Government and a member of W&M’s interdisciplinary
faculties in International Relations and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.
Previously, Debra held a research fellowship at the Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown
University’s Qatar campus. Debra’s research and language studies have taken her to much of the Middle East:
Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Syria, Turkey, and UAE, in addition to Israel and Palestine. Dr.
Shushan is a former Marshall Scholar, Truman Scholar, and Yale World Fellow, and served on the advisory board of
the Yale World Fellows Program. She is a graduate of Harvard University (BA), Oxford University (MPhil) and Yale
University (PhD).
Ori Nir
Director of Communications and Public Engagement
Ori Nir became the spokesman of Americans for Peace Now following a 24-year career in
journalism, which was mainly focused on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Ori covered Palestinian affairs for
Ha'aretz Daily, Israel's leading newspaper (1986-1990; 1994-1996) during the early years of the first
intifada and through the implementation of the first phases of the Oslo Accords. Later, he covered Israel's
Arab minority for Ha'aretz, (2000 to July 2002). Ori also covered the diplomatic efforts to advance
Arab-Israeli peace. As the Washington correspondent of Ha'aretz (1990-1994) and of The Forward,
America's largest and most influential independent national Jewish weekly newspaper, he focused on US Mideast
policy. Ori earned a Master's degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, where he also
taught journalism (1997-2000). His Bachelor's degree in Middle Eastern history and Arabic literature is from
Jerusalem's Hebrew University. Ori is fluent in Hebrew and Arabic.
An experienced pulpit rabbi and teacher, Rabbi Alana Suskin has for years taught and written on
classical Jewish texts and their potential for peacemaking. Rabbi Suskin was the Assistant Rabbi at Adas Israel,
Washington's largest Conservative synagogue. She served many years on the board of T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for
Human Rights. She is a Managing Editor of Jewschool.com, a leading Jewish faith blog, and is a founding
fellow of CLAL's project, Rabbis Without Borders. She is a contributor to several other blogs including
Jewish Values Online and MyJewishLearning, and has worked with and served on the boards of a
variety of social justice organizations, including American Rights at Work (now Jobs With Justice) and Jews
United for Justice. Rabbi Suskin has published articles in a variety of magazines, journals and anthologies,
including The Daily Beast, Sh'ma, The Jerusalem Post, and Lilith. In addition to
ordination and a Master's of Rabbinic Studies from AJU in Los Angeles, she also has a Master's degree in
Philosophy from the University of Maryland.
Aaron Mann
Associate Director of Communications and Public Outreach
Aaron joined APN in 2012 and has since led the organization's campus outreach efforts. He has
organized events at colleges around the United States while building APN on Campus, a vast database of
online resources. A former APN intern, Aaron was also Dr. Yoram Peri's Graduate Teaching Assistant at the
Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies. He was previously the Israel and International Affairs intern at the
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, and he wrote his Master’s thesis on
Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Aaron has also been published in Open Zion/The Daily Beast and The
Jerusalem Post; he has a BA in Political Science and a Master's degree in Public Policy.