Jessica Ear Adler joined the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in November 2008.  Prior to her arrival she was a Humanitarian Operations Advisor at the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Affairs in Honolulu, Hawaii.  As an advisor she instructed U.S. military personnel in areas of humanitarian assistance, disaster management, international law and human rights, U.S. inter-agency and civil military coordination and cross cultural understanding.

Ms. Ear Adler has had overseas field experiences that included serving as the Regional Deputy Refugee Coordinator at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, where she helped shaped U.S. policy on refugees, advocated for better refugee treatment with host countries, and oversaw humanitarian assistance to refugees in Asia.  Ms. Ear Adler was also a member of the State Department Joint Cambodian Adoption Task Force at the U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  She investigated and adjudicated international adoption cases, negotiated with Cambodian authorities for procedural reform, and documented incidents of child trafficking for department reports. Her other government work focused on American citizen and consular services at the U.S Consulate General in Sydney, Australia and the U.S. Consulate General in Chengdu, China.

In the private sector, Ms. Ear Adler advised on alternative dispute and conflict resolution as the Assistant CEO and Business Development Manager of the Australian Commercial Disputes Centre in Sydney, Australia.  She was also a legal consultant involved with the Sichuan American Chamber of Commerce to promote United States business interests in China.  During that time she co-founded “Go West,” the first English language magazine for the Sichuan capital city, Chengdu.  Other non-governmental experiences included a consultancy with the International Organization for Migration in Bangkok, Thailand to address multi-national human trafficking and repatriation concerns; as well as working with Global Rights, formerly known as The International Human Rights Law Group, in Washington, D.C. to assist their global rule of law initiatives and development.

Ms. Ear Adler holds a Juris Doctorate with concentration in international law, human rights and Pacific Asian legal studies from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.  She also undertook university exchanges focused on comparative legal studies with the University of Singapore and the University of Madrid.  Ms. Ear Adler has a Bachelor of Science degree in International Business Marketing and Japanese from George Mason University.  She completed summer program studies in Human Rights and International Business at the Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Japan and Georgetown University in Washington D.C. 

Ms. Ear Adler was awarded three Meritorious Awards from the U.S. Department of State for her service.  She is a member of the California State Bar, a certified mediator in Australia and has completed the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Civil Military Coordination course.  She is proficient in Cambodian and Thai and conversant in Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and Spanish.

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Last updated: 12/18/2008